Dominican wheat consumption among region’s highest: Worldgrain.com

Washington. — Wheat consumptionin the Dominican Republic during 2016-17 is forecast at 405,000 tonnes, withimports remaining strong at 530,000 tonnes, the U.S. Department ofAgriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) said in an April 1report, quoted by Worldgrain.com.

“The Dominican Republic does notproduce wheat. It is completely dependent on imports to supply the domesticmarket. The Dominican Republic continues to have one of the highest per capitawheat and wheat products consumption rates in the Latin America and CaribbeanRegion,@. The industry outlet says.

It said the country is home to alarge milling industry and imports almost all of its wheat from the U.S. andCanada. A small quantity of wheat from Russia was also imported during calendaryear 2015. “Currently, the Dominican Republic boasts a daily milling capacityof around 3,320 tonnes with a current average utilization of 60%, divided amongsix different processors,” the report said.

Corn is forecast to remain steadyat 1.22 million tonnes during 2016-17. Even though U.S. corn has regained itsleadership in the market, U.S. market share declined during 2014-15 to 48% oftotal imports. This trend is expected to continue during 2016-17 due to higherperceived quality and increased availability of Brazilian corn, combined withthe willingness of Dominican importers to pay a premium for that quality.