Saudi Arabia expects to import 700,000 tons of wheat by August, a newspaper has quoted the head of its grains import authority as saying. “The overall quantity that has been imported so far reached 470,000 tons and it is expected that we receive quantities of around 700,000 for the period to the holy month of Ramadan of this year,” said Waleed Al-Khariji, head of the state-controlled Grains Silos and Flour Mills Organization (GSFMO), said in comments in Al-Hayat. The Kingdom consumes at least 2.6 million tons of wheat annually, Khariji said. Saudi Arabia became a major wheat importer in 2008 after deciding to cut wheat production by 12.5 percent per year, abandoning a 30-year program to grow its own that achieved self-sufficiency but depleted its water resources. Khariji said domestic wheat production would be eliminated “within a maximum period of eight years,” hinting that authorities may speed up the process.
