World Grain - July 2013 - 105

WORLD GRAIN ARCHIVE

1983
World exports of wheat flour in
1981-82 crop year (July-June) fell
18%, but the European Economic
Community showed a net increase
in shipments and increased its share
to 64%, the highest ever, according
to figures issued by the International Wheat Council.
The U.S.’s share of world trade
in flour dropped to 21%, according
to the council, which preliminarily estimated the total global trade at
6,876,000 tonnes in wheat equivalent.
C.L. (Jack) Copeland, former director general of the National Association of British and Allied Millers,
died April 22. He was 71. Copeland, who had contributed to World
Grain, was also European editor of
Milling & Baking News, another
Sosland publication.
Ray Vrtiska has been appointed
marketing manager of Intersystems,
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. Intersystems’ products include a wide range
of grain handling equipment. Vrtiska was previously product manager.

1993
The government of Nigeria ended
the ban on wheat imports it imposed
over six years ago. The decree lifting
the ban requires Nigerian flour millers to purchase all domestic production at a 50% premium to imported
wheat. Nigeria’s baking industry
must also ensure that bread prices remain affordable to consumers.
Food-price inflation, which encouraged the policy change, is a serious problem, and the government
reportedly is reviewing bans on imports of other grains.
The Turkish Grain Board is likely
to export wheat and barley this season, according to Timucin Turan,
the board’s general manager.

In June, Turan estimated the
country’s 1993-94 wheat production could increase to 17 million
tonnes, about 2 million more than
the previous year.
He said the board could buy more
than 5 million tonnes of grain and
would export the amounts in excess
of 4.5 million tonnes.
China will invest nearly 10 billion yuan ($1.75 billion) in the next
few years to upgrade its grain storage facilities and to build a national
storage network.
The World Bank will loan $325
million for the project, and the International Development Association
will make available a $165 million
credit. The project, to be completed
before 1998, will increase China’s
storage capacity by more than 40
million tonnes.
The private sector in Egypt will
be allowed to import wheat as a result of reforms initiated on Aug. 1
by the Ministry of Supply.
The reforms include the creation of the Egyptian Wheat Board,
which has responsibility for continued public sector wheat imports, as
well as review and coordination of
private imports.
Most of Egypt’s modern flour
mills are state-owned and will continue to use wheat imported by the
Egyptian Wheat Board.
The wheat import change is part
of Egypt’s ongoing economic reform
program, which includes privatization of mills. As the program progresses, the volume of private wheat
imports is likely to increase, but the
government is expected to move
gradually to avoid price instability.

2003
Archer Daniels Midland Co.
(ADM), has begun constructing five
new grain storage silos in Brazil.
The silos, located in Tapurah,

www.World-Grain.com / World Grain / July 2013

Vipishi, Carazinho, Ranchao and
Caarapo in central Brazil’s fertile
Mato Grosso region, will complement ADM’s existing network of 80
elevators and warehouses in Brazil,
Paraguay and Bolivia.
The new silos should begin accepting grain deliveries by next
year’s crop season, ADM said.
“ADM’s Brazilian country elevator system is an integral part of
our global processing network, delivering crops from the expanding
production areas to our processing
plants in Brazil, Europe and Asia,”
said Paul Mulhollem, president and
chief operating officer, ADM.
The United States, Argentina,
Canada and Egypt are to file a World
Trade Organization case against the
European Union over what they allege is the E.U.’s illegal five-year
moratorium on approving agricultural biotech products.
The European Commission said it
regretted the move, describing it as
“legally unwarranted, economically
unfounded and politically unhelpful.”
Other countries expressing support
for the case by joining it as third parties include Australia, Chile, Columbia, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico,
New Zealand, Peru and Uruguay.
“The E.U.’s moratorium violates
WTO rules,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said. “We’ve
waited patiently for five years for the
E.U. to follow the WTO rules and the
recommendations of the European
Commission, so as to respect safety
findings base on careful science.
E.U. Trade Commissioner Pascal
Lamy refuted these claims, saying
the E.U.’s regulatory system for
GMO’s authorization was in line
with WTO rules. “It is clear transparent and non-discriminatory,” he
said. “There is therefore no issue
that the WTO needs to examine.
The fact is that the E.U. has authorized GM varieties in the past and is
currently processing applications.”

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2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
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2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
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World Grain - July 2013

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