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New Punjab govt has cancelled all the labour and transportation tenders issued during the previous Badal regime for the upcoming wheat procurement season, and has invited fresh tenders, while directing the Deputy Commissioners to personally supervise the procurement process beginning April1. After a high-level meeting chaired by CM Captain Amarinder Singh, it was decided that fresh tenders could be submitted till 5 pm on March 24 and would be opened the next day by the respective committees headed by the Deputy Commissioners of the concerned districts. The entire tendering process would be completed by March 31, before the two-month procurement process kicks-off on April1. Mandis had been allotted to six procurement agencies-PUNGRAIN, Markfed, PUNSUP, Punjab State Warehousing Corporation, Punjab Agro Foodgrain Corporation and FCI as per the share allocated to them by the state govt. The agencies would procure, an estimated, 122 Lakh Metric Tonne wheat during this procurement drive.

Turkish buyers have put purchases of Russian agricultural products-mainly wheat, maize and sunflower oil on hold, despite denials from Ankara that it has effectively banned imports from Moscow. Import licenses issued by the Turkish govt no longer included Russia in a list of accepted tax-free origins and suggesting an import tariff of 130% could be applied to supplies from Russia.

FCI has procured 72,955 tonnes of wheat from farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. Procurement is highest in Madhya Pradesh at about 65,112 tonnes. Wheat purchase at Bhopal and Narmadapuram division of Madhya Pradesh started on March21. FCI aims to buy 8.5 million tonnes of wheat in Madhya Pradesh in 2017-18(Apr-Mar), compared with 4.0 million tonnes bought a year ago. In Gujarat, about 7,837 tonnes of wheat has been purchased from 5 procurement centres so far. Govt procurement in other states is likely to begin from April1. Centre has set a target of procuring 33 million tonnes of the food grain in 2017-18, up from 22.9 million tonnes purchased in the previous season.

Prices of wheat fell in the benchmark market of Indore because of higher supply in markets. The poor-quality wheat, with high moisture content, traded at lower than the MSP. Around 14,000-15,000 bags (1bag=100kg) arrived in Indore up 2,000-3,000 bags from previous day. Govt procurement has started, but farmers are not selling the good quality crop to the government, as they can sell the same produce at a higher price in markets. FCI has procured about 65,112 tonnes of wheat in Indore.

Delhi wheat prices fall as new crop arrivals start.

UP contributes almost a third to the country’s total wheat production, with an annual output of around 25-27 million tonnes. But the procurement target set by the Food Ministry for UP is just 3 million tonnes for this year. Arrivals about to start after a bumper wheat crop, farmers fear that wheat prices can fall unless procurement increases.

An international grain forecasting expert has warned WA farmers they should not expect higher global wheat prices any time soon. Australian grain growers should watch the Australian dollar closely, as this would have the biggest bearing on their prices next season and beyond. Global wheat prices could decline to a seasonal low this year Record stocks of 546 million tonnes of major grains (wheat/corn/soybeans) meant the world was awash with grain and global plantings were at a record high. The global area harvested last year was 523 million hectares. A massive expansion in plantings in Ukraine, Russia, Brazil and Argentina, was contributing to the oversupply. Russia, the biggest importer of wheat was establishing itself as the world biggest exporter and had another 12 million hectares that could be cultivated.

Prices of wheat fell in the key wholesale market of Delhi because of high supplies, as the new crop has started arriving from Madhya Pradesh. New crop has started coming to Delhi from Madhya Pradesh, though in small quantities. While traders are largely relying on the grain sold by the govt and arrivals from Madhya Pradesh are adding to the supply. Govt had last week sold 16,000 tonnes of wheat in Delhi through the open market sale tender.