這是一則2019年台灣購買小麥的招標公告:

Freight News 16/04/2019

這是2020年4月購買22萬噸小麥的招標公告:

Taiwan millers tender for 220k of US wheat

MY2019/20 food, seed and industrial (FSI) consumption is forecast to remain flat at 1.295 million tons. Twenty-five thousands tons is used for food fermentation (e.g., soy sauce and brewery); most of the rest is milled into flour. According to market intelligence, approximately 30 percent of flour is used for noodles 麵食 and around 40 percent of flour is used for baking and steamed buns 麵包. Taiwan’s milling capacity is estimated at 2 million metric tons on a 24-hour-300-day operational basis. Current capacity utilization is estimated at 60 percent.

美國2019年新聞報導，台灣麵粉公會參訪美國小麥生產及運送流程紀錄

Taiwan Flour Mills Association representatives are touring the Pacific Northwest and Washington, D.C., during a visit that will culminate in a new two-year agreement to buy U.S. wheat.

One of the stops they made was in the Lewiston, Idaho, area on Sept. 6-9. They saw how growers maintain high crop quality, the Idaho Wheat Commission said in a news release, including how wheat is tested, stored and prepared for delivery by barge 駁船 on the Snake and Columbia rivers. (蛇河及哥倫比亞河)

Sponsored by the commission and U.S. Wheat Associates, they visited Lewis-Clark Terminal at the Port of Lewiston, a lab where wheat protein and moisture levels are analyzed, the Uniontown, Wash., Co-op and farms. They also attended the Lewiston Roundup rodeo as guests of its governing board.

The group, following trips to Portland, Seattle and Washington, D.C., will meet with Idaho Gov. Brad Little as part of the goodwill mission. The mission is expected to sign a letter of intent to purchase wheat at negotiated rates between 2020 and 2021. Details are yet to be released.

In 2017 they signed a letter of intent to buy 66.1 million bushels, valued at around $576 million, from the U.S. in 2018 and this year, a communique said.

台灣與美國的小麥關係

台灣從美援小麥轉換成商務購買美國小麥的轉折年是1966年，1962年還從美國進口32.5萬公噸小麥，1965年美援結束後，1968年，480號法案延長年限，根據美國國會聽證資料，1967年台灣向美國商務購買28萬公噸小麥，對比於前一年商業購買只有9千公噸，此舉開啟美國小麥進口台灣市場。近年來台灣從美國進口小麥約佔市場比重八成，其餘則以澳洲小麥為主。

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美國小麥生產與運輸

根據美國農業部2014年統計，美國小麥約佔世界小麥外銷市場的2成，雖然種植面積持續減少中，從7千萬英畝降到5千多萬英畝，但是產量卻維持平盤，約在25億bushels，也因為如此，小麥產量相對穩定。

美國小麥出口港口包括紐奧良(約50%)、波特蘭(約25%)及德州墨西哥灣港(約11%)三處，小麥運輸涉及一系列倉儲、轉運及裝船等物流系統的支援，任何一 個部門出差錯，勢必影響整體外銷供需。

Upon arrival at the elevator, the grain is inspected and quality graded by a government inspector or certified independent company. Because the elevators do not have massive storage capacity, they are constantly unloading grain from barges, trucks and rail cars and preparing it for loading directly onto large cargo ships.

As a cargo ship enters the port to load grain, it receives an inspection by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Additionally, the National Cargo Bureau (NCB), a marine surveying organization working under authority of the U.S. Coast Guard, provides inspection to certify the stability of the ship once cargo is loaded. After passing those inspections, a readiness certificate is issued, which means the vessel is ready for loading cargo.

When an agency receives the readiness to charter for a vessel, they file a berth application with the grain elevator, signaling the elevator to schedule the vessel for loading with the buyer's specified grain.

Once the cargo ship docks at the elevator, another USDA and NCB inspection of the vessel takes place to ensure safety and quality for the remainder of the process. As grain is loaded, it is inspected and quality graded to verify that the grain meets the specifications of the buyer's contract. Upon loading, weight and inspection certifications are issued for each lot of grain. At this point the elevator or a freight forwarder prepares the export documents so the ship can sail.

美國出口、台灣進口

台灣每年進口上百萬公噸美國小麥，主要產地包括美國西北五大洲: 奧瑞岡、華盛頓、愛達華、蒙大拿及北達科他州，也有部分來自美國小麥最大產區: 堪薩斯州。

這些小麥怎麼運出美國呢?主要係從美國太平洋西北部(PNW))小麥港口重鎮: 奧瑞岡州的波特蘭港口區，真正的港口其實在波特蘭對岸的華盛頓州溫哥華市港(Vancouver, Washington)，台灣大概每個月進口兩到三個小麥船期，每船大約4~5萬公噸小麥進口，然後分別存放在台中及高雄遠東倉儲，由聯合採購業者利用卡車運到麵粉廠加工研磨。個別業者也可以自行採購存放。換句話說，台灣的小麥最主要就是從波特蘭市對岸的美國華盛頓州溫哥華港檢驗後出口。

產地小麥運至穀倉時的抽樣是用一根長約一人高的中空銅管，管上有數個可開啟的洞口，抽樣時將銅管插入麥堆中，再開啟洞口使小麥進入內部，以獲得不同層次的小麥樣本，混合後加以檢驗。檢驗人員抽樣時必須攜帶此一銅管，因此銅管也成為檢驗所的象徵物品。小麥由穀倉要出口裝船時，也需要抽樣檢驗，這時則使用每十五分鐘一次的自動抽樣設備，直接抽送到化驗室檢驗，需確認所有的小麥均合乎買賣合約的品質規定後，始可裝船出口。

根據台灣業者1995年實地考察發現，流經波特蘭市的哥倫比亞河對岸屬於華盛頓州溫哥華，港口內聯合穀物公司（United Grain）成立於1969年，該公司在河邊北側碼頭有一處大穀倉，共有259個儲存倉，可容納127,098公噸的小麥，每小時的裝卸能力是2,177公噸，一年可處理460萬公噸的穀物。 2020年更新資料，穀倉增加到290座，每年出口量達500萬公噸。

Vancouver, Washingto, 1959

United Grain Corp.

Founded: 1969

Owner: Mitsui & Co., the Japanese parent company, is one of the world’s largest corporate conglomerates.

Location of operations: Port of Vancouver

Number of employees: 100

Grain silos at Port of Vancouver: 230

Ships loaded per year: 100

Rail cars unloaded per year: 50,000

Total storage capacity: 220,000 metric tons