Kareem Tamimi, a spokesman for the ministry, said the deal was brokered initially two years ago, but did not mention the name of the company.

The French company will deliver one helicopter every three months, to train Ministry’s personnel and pilots to operate and work with the helicopters and to provide spare parts for them.

(Source: AKnews)

Rasun has quickly become one of the biggest poultry companies in the Middle East and this latest announcement, coupled with the acquisition of a slaughter house and a number of other significant investments, means Rasun will be the first fully-integrated poultry producer in Iraq. The company now boasts GP and PS hatcheries, two feed mills, veterinary and feed labs, a slaughter house and processing plant. These investments are a direct reflection of the on-going success of, and increased demand for, Ross stock in Iraq.

John Maguire, Ross International Sales Manager, said:

“We are delighted that Rasun are demonstrating their commitment to the Ross brand through continued investment throughout the production chain. The Ross 308 has proven to be of great value to Iraqi poultry producers and performance has been exceptional which has led to a significant rise in demand. We look forward to our continued cooperation with Rasun as the Iraqi market grows.”

Dr. Salah M. Bakir, Chairman and CEO, Rasun added:

“Once our investment plans are completed in autumn 2011, we will be able to offer increased supply to the Iraqi poultry market. We are in a unique position to supply customers with their Ross 308 product requirements, backed with technical and veterinary support throughout the whole process. We have very good relationships with the Ross Middle East team and their support is invaluable. We anticipate the next chapter in the exciting success story of Ross and Rasun in Iraq eagerly.”

Hassan Ibrahim, director general of Iraq’s Grain Board, told the agency that the ministry purchased 112,000 metric tons of rice from local producers at a price of 750,000 dinars ($643.78) a ton in the 2011-12 season, up from 83,000 tons in 2010.

Iraq consumes about 1.25 million tons of rice a year, most of it imported.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Bloomberg

The Jordan Times reports that members of the delegation, which will be headed by the ministry’s secretary general, Radi Tarawneh, will meet with Iraqi officials to discuss establishing a mechanism to export Jordanian produce to Iraq.

(Source: Jordan Times)

Bloomberg reports that the government intends to triple the annual quantity of wheat seed that it buys from local farmers to 180,000 tons in 2015 from 60,000 tons now.

Iraq is one of the world’s biggest importers of wheat and rice, which are purchased by the government to supply the country’s food rationing program. Soil salinity, poor irrigation and a drought in the last three years combined to make the country a buyer on world markets.

Iraq consumes about 4.5 million tons of wheat a year and local production for the 2010-11 season was about 1.73 million tons; the country plans to import 3 million tons of wheat in 2012.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Citing an article from Japanese business daily The Nikkei, they say the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide up to 150 million yen ($2 million) to Mitsui, Toyo Engineering Corp and Tokyo-based consulting firm Unico International Corp for feasibility studies. A local state-run company will also be involved.

The project will mark Japan’s first-ever public-private partnership for infrastructure development in Iraq.

The plant would produce ammonia and urea from natural gas. Daily output capacity at the plant would be 2,000 to 3,000 tons of ammonia, putting the plant among the largest in the world.

(Source: Reuters)

Iraq is estimated to have imported more than 1.5 million tons of rice last year.

The country’s Grain Board said the year’s rice produce has already been shipped by farmers to the country’s silos.

The traditional rice-producing provinces of Najaf, Diwaniya and Muthana have been hit by a shortage of water and increasing salinity.

Rice is one of four staple items in the country’s ration card system, the other items being flour, sugar and cooking oil – all imported from abroad.

Food imports to meet demand of the ration card system cost the treasury more than $3 billion a year.

(Source: Azzaman)

Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide a license for its proprietary Ammonia Process and related engineering services to increase the plant capacity to 120 percent of the original design. The original plant, which started up in 1989 was designed to produce 1000 MTPD Ammonia.

“KBR is proud to have the opportunity to work with First Global Company to revamp the North Fertilizer Plant,” said John Derbyshire, President, KBR Technology. “Helping our licensors debottleneck their plants and achieve greater production capacities and process efficiencies is one of our core competencies and will be an area of significant growth worldwide.”

(Source: KBR)