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Wheat group looks to resume durum deals with Japan
FARGO, N.D. (AP)--State agriculture officials believe the timing is right to sell durum Wheat to Japan, which stopped buying the grain from the United States after a quality complaint in 1996.
The North Dakota Wheat Commission is hosting a group of Japanese milling officials in Fargo during June's middle week, hoping to woo them into resuming durum imports. Japan imports about 7 million bushels of durum per year, almost exclusively from Canada.
"Hopefully we can do a full court press to get them to start buying U.S. durum again," said Leland "Judge" Barth, marketing specialist with the Wheat commission.
Four officials from some of the largest mills in Japan spent June 15 listening to reports and looking at durum lab samples at the Northern Crops Institute at North Dakota State University. A representative for durum producers in Arizona and California also is participating in the event.
Although agriculture officials have tried to sell durum to several Japanese trade delegations, this is a rare visit by a technical team, said Neal Fisher, administrator of the Wheat commission.
"It's hard to gauge, but I think the very fact they are here after a number of invitations and they're seeking this information speaks well as an opportunity," Fisher said. "Whether we'll be successful at tipping the scales our way is difficult to say."
Japan stopped buying durum from the United States after wild buckwheat mixed in with the durum caused specs in pasta, Barth said. Japan imports about 50 million bushels of hard red spring Wheat from the United States each year.
Time may help resolve the dispute, said Takeo Suzuki, director of the U.S. Wheat Associates office in Tokyo.
"I don't know if anyone has clearly pointed to the real reason why Japan has suspended durum imports to the U.S.," Suzuki said. "Everybody gives different answers. That happened a long time ago."
The demand for durum is increasing in Japan because people are eating more pasta, Suzuki said.
"We're going to solve the problem, but we have to be very patient," he said. "It will take some time to get some consensus."
The quality of durum in Canada is good, but U.S. Wheat has lower moisture, better color and higher quality gluten, Fisher said.
"It has been a price issue, largely," Fisher said. "The Canadians simply underprice us in the market."
If the Japanese millers are impressed with their inspection here this week, they will likely try to influence buyers in their country, said Patricia Berglund, director of the Northern Crops Institute. But it's a "process" that could take a long time, she said.
"Developing markets takes constant attention, let's put it that way," Berglund said. "Once you lose a market, it's very hard to get it back."
Date: 6/22/04
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