HAMBURG- Iraq's state grains buyer is believed to have purchased about 150,000 tonnes of Australian-origin milling wheat in a restricted purchase tender this week, European traders said on Thursday.

The wheat was believed to have been purchased at about $447 a tonne c&f, they said. The seller was believed to be trading house Viterra, traders said.

The tender was restricted to eight trading houses with wheat sought sourced only from the United States, Canada or Australia.

It was unclear what type of milling wheat was bought. The deadline for submission of price offers in the tender was originally Jan. 3 but was extended to Jan. 13.

The tender had sought a nominal 50,000 tonnes. But volumes in Iraq's tenders are negotiable and the country has in the past frequently bought more than the tonnage originally requested.

Drought this summer damaged Iraq's wheat crop. Neighbouring Iran and Turkey also suffered drought damage to grain harvests and have been importing heavily in recent months with both countries issuing tenders to buy wheat this week.

Iraq plans to import two million tonnes of wheat in the coming year, the director general of the country's Grain Board said on Dec. 11. 

A spokesperson for Iraq's trade ministry had told Reuters in November that Iraq would issue an international tender to buy 500,000 tonnes of wheat in December or early 2022. 

(Reporting by Michael Hogan, editing by David Evans) ((michael.j.hogan@thomsonreuters.com; +49 172 671 36 54; Reuters Messaging: michael.hogan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))