LONDON, ENGLAND — World flour exports in 2020-21 are forecast to remain the same as the previous period quarter, at 15.1 million tonnes wheat equivalent, according to the International Grains Council’s (IGC) recent grain market report.

If realized, it would be a 5.5% increase over last year’s total of 14.3 million tonnes,

The IGC noted that the year-on-year increase includes “a rebound in shipments to Uzbekistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan.”

“Based on reported trade to date (mostly covering the July to October period), there are a number of offsetting changes to import numbers, including downward revisions for Brazil, North Korea, the Philippines, and Somalia, while projections are raised for the EU, the UK, and Tajikistan,” the IGC said.

Afghanistan and Iraq are forecast to be the largest flour importers at 2.5 million and 2 million tonnes, respectively.

The IGC noted that a year-to-year increase in imports is expected in Iraq “although shipments from its main origin, Turkey, are so far pointing to little overall year-on-year change.”

Significant year-on-year increases in imports are projected in the EU (41,000 to 120,000), Iraq (1.856 million to 2 million), Syria (407,000 to 450,000), Yemen (673,000 to 900,000), Angola 350,000 to 450,000), and Afghanistan (1.9 million to 2.5 million).

Turkey and Kazakhstan are once again forecast to be the leading flour exporters, with each seeing a slight increase in shipments over the previous year.

Turkey is forecast to export 4.9 million tonnes, up from 4.605 million tonnes last year, while Kazakhstan’s outgo is pegged at 2.4 million tonnes, compared with 2.156 million in 2019-20.