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Iraq halts unloading of Aust grain ships
8 Aug 2002
At least 12 Australian ships with 500,000 tonnes of wheat onboard have been stranded after Iraq stopped the unloading of two ships last week. Iraqi officials claimed that the cargo was contaminated by urea fertiliser and metal filings. AWB says that the ships have no history of carrying urea fertiliser and the company has sent an inspector to Iraq to examine the claims.
A contractual dispute is also holding up unloading 10 of the 12 ships but AWB denies there's a problem with payment, saying that it has a letter of credit.
This latest dispute comes in the wake of Iraq cancelling a 500,000-tonne wheat deal two weeks ago after the Australian Government came out in support of the US's military stance against Iraq.
Weekly Times, 7/8/02, page 1.
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