811.20 Defense(M)Peru/939: Airgram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Peru ( Norweb )
A–928. Your A–1196, August 5, 5 p.m. Department inquired of the War Shipping Administration as to the possibilities of obtaining the allocation of shipping space for 100,000 tons of Australian wheat for delivery during the remainder of 1943 and possibly extending into the first part of 1944. The War Shipping Administration is definitely opposed to rendering any assistance in the allocating of shipping space for movement of wheat from Australia on the grounds that Peru is receiving ample supplies of wheat at the present time from Argentina and Australia, and that to arrange wheat imports from Australia would require diversions of shipping and serious delays at a time and in an area where this must be avoided for obvious military reasons.
According to the records of the War Shipping Administration, the movement of wheat from Australia to Peru in 1943 through June 22, 1943 amounted to 31,429 tons. Additional expected arrivals of Australian wheat in Peru amount to 17,100 tons, or a total movement of wheat from Australia to Peru known to date in 1943 of 48,529 tons.
In addition, statistics of exports of wheat from Argentina to Peru for 1943 through July 8, 1943 show a total movement of 40,109 tons. This compares with the total exports of wheat from Argentina to Peru for recent years as follows:
| Year | Exports of Wheat to Peru (Tons) |
| 1940 | 121,928 |
| 1941 | 94,764 |
| 1942 | 131,468 |
To summarize the above, the total of arrivals and expected arrivals of wheat in Peru from Argentina and Australia to date in 1943 amount to 88,638 tons.
[Page 719]If Embassy is of firm opinion that Peru is facing a crisis with respect to Peruvian wheat supply, the War Shipping Administration informs the Department that it sympathetically would consider releasing the Peruvian Government from its obligation of maintaining the two Peruvian vessels now in the trade between Peru and the United States, which vessels could be employed in transporting wheat from Argentina.