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The government has procured 15 million tonne wheat in 2017-18 (Apr-Mar) up 12.1% from a year ago. Punjab has surpassed Haryana to become the highest contributor to the government’s procurement drive. The government has so far purchased 5.5 million tonne wheat from farmers in the state, up 13.5% from the year-ago period. In Haryana, the government has bought 5.4 million tonne wheat, up 3.4% from a year ago. The government has purchased 3.4 million tonne wheat in Madhya Pradesh, up 12.9% on year, while in Uttar Pradesh, it has bought 267,995 tonne so far, sharply higher than 77,807 tonne in the year-ago period. The Uttar Pradesh government has set a target to procure 8 million tonne wheat this year, much above the central government’s 3- million tonne target for the state. The state government has also offered an incentive of 10 rupees per 100 kg for loading and transportation of the crop, Overall, the central government has set a target to procure 33.0 million tonne of wheat for the current marketing season, up from 22.9 million tonne a year ago.

Wheat prices in key wholesale markets of the country remained unchanged as government procurement offset high supplies the government has procured 15 million tonne wheat for the 2017-18 (Apr-Mar) marketing season, up 12.1% from a year ago. Taking cues from spot markets, the most active May wheat contract on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange closed flat. The contract ended down 0.1% from the previous close. The most active July wheat contract on the CBOT was at $4.36 a bushel, up 0.4% from the previous close.

Turkey is a key country-importer of wheat bran from Ukraine. In the current season the country started gradually increasing the purchasing volumes. July-February of 2016/17 market year Turkey imported almost 352 thousand tonnes of Ukrainian wheat bran, an increase of 14% compared with the same period in 2015/16 market year (309.9 thousand tonnes), and up 4% compared with July-February of 2014/15 market year (337.8 thousand tonnes). Generally, in 2015/16 market year Ukraine supplied 475.8 thousand tonnes of wheat bran to Turkey, up 2% compared with 2014/15 market year (467.8 thousand tonnes). Turkey increased its share among foreign buyers of wheat bran from Ukraine. Thus, in 2014/15 market year the share of Turkey totaled 91% in the export structure, and in 2015/16 MY – 86%, but in the current market year the figures will grow to 98%.

U.S. grain futures edged higher on previous close, boosted partly by a weaker dollar, although the scope for a significant rebound in prices appeared to be capped by ample supplies. Chicago Board of Trade wheat for May delivery was up 0.5 percent at $4.21-1/4 a bushel at 1034 GMT. The most active contract had dipped to a low of $4.17-1/2 on Wednesday, the lowest since March 31.the market remained weighed by abundant global supplies although the prospect of lower crops in the Black Sea region helped to underpin prices. Wheat crop in Russia was forecast to fall by 9 percent from last year to 66 million tonnes while a decline in production was also anticipated in Ukraine. Lower exports from Russia and Ukraine are likely to help reduce the supply glut witnessed in global grains market. May milling wheat was down by one euro or 0.6 percent at 163.50 euros a tonne.

Wheat consumption in Jordan is forecast to remain virtually unchanged in the 2017-18 marketing year. At 1.32 million tonnes, the forecast for 2017-18 was up only marginally from 1.318 million tonnes during the 2016-17 marketing year. The flat forecast is in stark contrast to previous years, when Jordan experienced unprecedented growth in consumption due to the influx of Syrian refugees and a testing economic environment. Production of wheat is negligible in Jordan, with the country only turning out about 25,000 tonnes per year, a figure that is expected to remain unchanged in 2017-18. Wheat imports also are forecast flat, at 1.3 million tonnes.