Shipping Wheat

It would be impossible to tell the story of traded commodities without mentioning wheat. Civilizations have traded the commodity of wheat for thousands of years. Today, many nations trade wheat. Some of these nations, included the United States, usually excel at the trade of wheat due to the large subsides received by the farmers, who produce this product. Typically, wheat is transported via bulk shipping. There are a few shipments of wheat inside of ocean freight containers. When transporting wheat, it is very important to make sure that it is dry and stays away from any potential water contact. This is not always easy, considering that the shipments are sent to the ports via water.
Most of the wheat in the world is shipped to nations in the Middle East. Egypt imports the most wheat annually, followed by Iran. Most Middle East nations do not grow a lot of wheat, and shipping is vital. The United States used to be the top exporting power for wheat. Now it appears that there is a changing of the guard. It is too expensive for the United States to ship wheat by ocean vessel to Middle Eastern nations. The European Union is now on top of the wheat trade because of their lower expenses. Next year, it is projected that US wheat exports could be the lowest it has been in the past five years. The US wheat market has declined sharply since the 1980s.