Wheat

Spot wheat down as supplies rise in Madhya Pradesh.

Food regulator says ITC, HUL, others to start fortifying wheat flour.

Ukraine boosted grain exports by 9%.

Private traders have imported 44.10 lakh tonnes of wheat from April 2016 to February 2017, said govt. Govt had wheat stock of 94.29 lakh tonnes at the beginning of March as against the buffer norm of 64.60 lakh tonnes as on April 1. The wheat stock is likely to improve in the coming months when Rabi crop arrives in markets.

Government has procured 5,243 tonne of wheat in Uttar Pradesh in the current marketing year so far, nearly three times the year-ago procurement of 1,759 tonne. State government has set a target of procuring 8 million tonne wheat, way above the central govt target of 3 million tonne for Uttar Pradesh. To enable efficient procurement and eliminate the role of middlemen, the new govt in Uttar Pradesh has made Aadhar cards compulsory for farmers coming to sell their crops. The government has also offered an incentive of 10 rupees per 100 kg for loading and transportation of the crop. Overall, 2.4 million tonne of wheat has been procured in the country so far, slightly lower than 2.6 million tonne a year ago. Procurement is highest in Madhya Pradesh where the govt has bought 1.8 million tonne wheat so far. In Punjab, the government has bought 37,505 tonne, and in Haryana, it has purchased 534,279 tonne of wheat.

Prices of wheat fell in the benchmark market of Indore. Madhya Pradesh as harvesting is at its peak in the state, with high supplies of the grain in markets Arrivals in Madhya Pradesh were higher today at 300,000-400,000 bags (1bag=100kg), up from 100,000 bags the previous day. Around 20,000 bags of wheat arrived in Delhi markets. The May wheat contract on the NCDEX fell marginally down 0.1% from the previous close. On the CBOT, wheat futures fell nearly 1% on subdued demand.

Major wheat flour producers like ITC Ltd, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, General Mills India Pvt Ltd, Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and Cargill India Pvt Ltd will start fortifying their wheat flour with iron, folic acid and vitamin B-12, said FSSAI. The fortified wheat flour will be available in different regions by July or August. The regulator has been pushing for fortification of all food products to enrich their nutritional quality, so as to deal with micronutrient deficiencies that are rampant in India.

South Indian state, importing wheat from North India is costlier than importing the same from Australia, said Nirmala Sitharaman Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry on 8th april. The Goods and Services Tax will actually make Indian goods cheaper for Indian customers rather than importing them.

Importing wheat from North costlier than importing from Australia for South India.

Govt procured 950,000 tonne wheat in Madhya Pradesh so far in the current marketing year ending March. Govt is buying wheat from farmers at the minimum support price and will use it to build its stocks, and to ensure adequate returns to farmers. The procurement is expected to rise in next two to three days as many farmers believe it is auspicious to sell their crops after Navratri. Madhya Pradesh is expected to produce a record 21.0 million tonne wheat in 2016-17 (Jul-Jun), up from 18.4 million tonne a year ago. Wheat procurement has also begun in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, and government so far purchased nearly 200 tonne of the grain from these states. Govt is targeting to buy 22 million tonne wheat from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in the current crop year ending June. Govt has set its wheat procurement target at 33 million tonne, up from 22.9 million tonne bought a year ago.

Uttar Pradesh will pay 10 rupees over and above the minimum support price for wheat procurement in the state. The incentive given to the farmers to pay labour to load and transport their produce to wheat procurement centres. To eliminate the role of middlemen in procurement operations, the state government will check farmers Aadhar cards and account books while making payments to them. Govt has opened 5,000 procurement centres across the state and govt is targeting to buy 8 million tonne wheat from farmers in the current marketing year against 7.97 million tonne purchased in the previous year.

In 2016, Ukraine exported 5.5 MMT of wheat and 841 KMT of oilseeds to Egypt that represented over 12% of Ukraine total exports of these crops. Egypt has recently decided to liberalize its phytosanitary requirements to grain imports. In particular, this concerns permissible levels of ergot and ambrosia seeds in cereal and pulse grains.

India wheat output will not suffer because of increased temperatures, as the crop nearing harvest in the top producing states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh has passed the stage which was vulnerable to the change in weather. The predicted production of the wheat this crop year to be an all-time high at 97-98 million tonnes, or even to touch 100 million mark, said Gyanendra Pratap Singh of the Directorate of Wheat Research at Karnal, Haryana. In Punjab and Haryana, average yields to be 48 quintals per hectare while in some places yields can go as high as 70 quintals per hectare. And the average yield in the country is 31 quintals.

Govt buys 950,000 tonne wheat in Madhya Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh to pay 10 rupees/100 kg extra for wheat procurement.

Ukraine exported 5.5 MMT of wheat to Egypt.

India Wheat output to hit record high of 98 million tonnes despite soaring mercury.

By ending the role of middlemen, 5,000 wheat purchase centres spread across Uttar Pradesh began functioning on April 1. CM Aditya Nath revised the target of wheat purchase and government agencies have been asked to buy 70 lakh tonne of the total target of 80 lakh tonnes in 2017. The previous Samajwadi Party government had purchased wheat through middlemen which will not be allowed at any cost by the present Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state, said CM.

International Grains Council has pegged India wheat output for the marketing year starting April at 95.5 million tonne up from the estimate of 86 million tonne for the previous year. Wheat output is likely to rise due to higher acreage, adequate soil moisture during the sowing season and favourable conditions during growth period. A record production in 2016-17, global wheat output in 2017-18 is likely to fall by 2.5% on year to 734.5 million tonne, said IGC. Wheat output is likely to fall in major producers Australia, Canada, US, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. Production of the grain is seen higher in the European Union.

FCI has procured 706,676 tonne wheat from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat so far, compared with 517,020 tonne procured in the year-ago period. FCI is procuring wheat from farmers at a minimum support price. Of the total purchases, 704,000 tonne was bought in Madhya Pradesh, about 1,998 tonne wheat was purchased in Rajasthan and 678 tonne in Gujarat. Procurement in other parts of the country starts on April 1 and FCI will open about 10,000 centres across the country. Govt plans to procure 33 million tonne wheat, up from 22.9 million tonne purchased last year.