Asia Millers Buy More U.S. Wheat on Competitive Prices, Black Sea Delays

By Naveen Thukral

JAKARTA, Sept. 16 (Reuters) – Flour millers in Asia have ramped up imports of U.S. wheat in recent weeks, driven by competitive prices from American suppliers and delays in shipments from the Black Sea, according to grain traders at an international conference.

Indonesian importers have finalised deals for around 500,000 tons, while buyers in Bangladesh secured about 250,000 tons and millers in Sri Lanka acquired around 100,000 tons, two grain traders said on the sidelines of the event in Jakarta.

“Millers are taking both U.S. soft white wheat and hard red winter wheat varieties,” said one regional trader. “There were some weather issues which delayed cargoes from the Black Sea region and U.S. prices have been pretty competitive.”

This is additional demand for U.S. wheat in Asia, complementing purchases by traditional buyers such as Thailand, the Philippines and Taiwan, they said.

Citing a recent deal, one of the traders said U.S. soft white wheat was sold at $270 per metric ton, including cost and freight to a buyer in Southeast Asia, while hard red winter variety was sold at $275 per ton.

Both traders attending the industry event did not want to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to media.

A senior executive at one Vietnamese flour miller said it was looking to buy 50,000 metric tons of U.S. wheat for December shipment. “We are checking prices if we can get 50,000 tons of U.S. hard red winter wheat and northern spring wheat,” the executive said on the sidelines of the conference. “Normally we buy Australian wheat but we are now looking at U.S. wheat.”

Southeast Asian nations are expected to increase U.S. grain and oilseed purchases, reshaping trade flows after signing agreements with the Trump administration that have displaced supplies from Australia, Canada and Russia.

“Countries have made their commitment to take more U.S. grains but we think these deals are largely driven by commercial reasons,” the second trader. “U.S. prices are competitive for buyers to take U.S. cargoes.”

Indonesia’s Wheat Flour Mills Association has signed a memorandum of understanding with U.S. counterparts to buy at least 1 million tons of U.S. wheat per year from 2026 to 2030. Meanwhile, Bangladesh had committed on July 20 to import 700,000 tons of American wheat annually to strengthen trade ties.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture in its monthly global supply-demand report last week raised U.S. wheat exports to 24.5 million tons for the 2025/26 crop year, up from 23.5 million tons estimated a month ago.

(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)