SHARM EL-SHEIKH: The US expects to capture 25 percent of the wheat market in the Middle East and North Africa in the marketing year 2008/9, a US Wheat Associates official said on Sunday. The United States exported about 8.3 million tons to the region in 2007/8, Vincent Peterson, vice president of overseas operations at US Wheat Associates, told Reuters, adding that this amounted to about a quarter of the market. This year it is a fairly similar percentage overall although we are lower in certain countries, he said on the sidelines of a regional conference in Sharm El-Sheikh. The US wheat marketing year ends on May 31. The US share of the market has been declining in recent years due to significantly cheaper imports from the Black Sea. But Peterson said a 25 percent share was adequate. If we can maintain this in the Middle East, that s a fairly good average for us, he said. US wheat sales to Egypt, which is forecast to import about 8 million tons of wheat this year, have been hit by the cheaper wheat and freight prices from Black Sea countries, especially Russia. This year our business to Egypt was lower than usual due to the excessive competition from the Black Sea, Peterson said. Still we exported around 2 million tons so far in 2008/9, in an 8 million ton market, so that s not so bad, he said.
