Food Corp secures good price for wheat exports

The reserve price for the export of two lots of wheat - 2 and 2.5 million tonnes - was fixed at $228 a tonne and $300 a tonne, respectively

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has exported wheat from state warehouses at an average price of $311.69 a tonne, higher than the reserve price fixed by the government, primarily due to good quality and competitive pricing. The reserve price for the export of two lots of wheat---two million tonnes (mt) and 2.5 mt---was fixed at $228 a tonne and $300 a tonne, respectively.

The Centre’s previous wheat export tender had fetched about $50 a tonne more than the rate prevailing in the international market.

According to a statement issued by FCI today, so far, India had exported four mt of wheat.

Last year, the government started selling wheat from its state inventories, the first time since 2002-03. Successive years of bumper harvests and procurement had resulted in its granaries being full.

Officials said enthused by the good response to the first two tranches of exports, the government is planning to export another two mt. Of the exports through the first two rounds, 4.03 mt has already been despatched, primarily to South Korea, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Thailand and Yemen.

According to data, as on June 1, wheat stocks in state-run warehouses stood at 77.69 mt, against a requirement of 20.1 mt.

 

An FCI official said this year's exports had proved the corporation’s wheat had high acceptability in the international market. “We got a very good response for our wheat, despite a drop in global demand,” he said, adding,  “There is huge demand for our wheat now…The prices we get are as good as those for Australian soft wheat, one of the best in the world.”

“We have a multi-layer quality check to ensure Indian wheat gets a credible brand,” the official said. “The samples were first sent for tests to the Directorate of Wheat Research at Karnal (Haryana), for chemical parameters. Besides tests by buyer-representatives, FCI also ensured tests to prevent rejection of shipments. We exported the wheat only after the buyers were satisfied about the product.”

He said FCI could secure better prices if the handling process was fully mechanised. “Non-mechanisation of the handling process makes us uncompetitive in the international market. Otherwise, we get highly encouraging feedback from buyers,” he said.

Mundra port in Gujarat handled the largest quantify of exports, followed by the Kandla port, also in Gujarat.