First imported wheat cargo to reach next week

The country, which is importing wheat for a second year to build its reserves, may receive its first cargo of the grain next week, helping the government ease supplies and check domestic prices.

A shipment of 40,000 tonnes will arrive at the Mundra port in the western Gujarat state by September 20, a government official, who didn't wish to be identified, said. The cargo is part of the 511,000 tonnes of wheat the country bought in July.

Timely deliveries of wheat may help boost supplies at a time when the availability of the grain in the South Asian nation falls short of demand. The government has since July agreed to import a fourth of this year's target of 5 million tonnes at record prices to replenish stockpiles.

The country's wheat demand may total 71.32 million tonnes, exceeding an availability of 65.52 million tonnes, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said yesterday in parliament.

The availability doesn't include 4.56 million tonnes held by warehouses on April 1. Last week, the country bought 50 per cent more wheat than the 530,000 tonnes offered at $384 a tonne to $397.45 a tonne. That's more than the $317 a tonne to $330 a tonne paid to Cargill Inc, Toepfer International and Riaz Trading for half a million tonnes in July.

The contract for December delivery rose as much as 1.4 per cent to $8.7275 a bushel in after-hours trading on the Chicago Board of Trade.