Front-month November futures contract of wheat on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange ended higher taking cues from slight rise in spot prices in key Delhi market. The contract had risen to a record high of 2,104 rupees per 100 kg due to lean supply in wholesale markets and subdued trade volume on the bourse. Most bulk buyers are purchasing wheat from auctions under the open market sale scheme held every week by the Food Corp of India as supplies are thin in wholesale markets. Food Corp of India sold 161,050 tn of wheat in the auction held on Friday under the open market sales scheme for 2018-19 (Apr-Mar).

Food Corp of India started weekly auctions under the open market sales scheme from July to cut down excess stocks. Since then, 2.38 mln tn wheat has been sold under the scheme. There is ample stock of the food grain in the government’s central pool. The government had 33.1 mln tn of wheat in its central pool as of Nov 1, up from 23.9 mln tn in the year-ago period. In Delhi, mill-quality wheat was sold at 2,050-2,090 rupees per 100 kg, around 10 rupees higher from the previous close.

On NCDEX, the November wheat contract ended at 2,065 rupees per 100 kg, up 19 rupees.