Wheat futures slip

COMMODITY SPIKES

Following the ban on futures trading in wheat and the Centre's decision to release 3.65 lakh tonne wheat in open market at low rates, prices of wheat dropped by Rs 40 a quintal to Rs 1030 this week.

The government is selling wheat at Rs 986 a quintal, which is lower than the prevailing market price of Rs 1030. Therefore, there is a high probability of wheat prices slipping further to Rs 1000 levels in the coming week.

New crop arrival has begun in Gujarat and Rajasthan at rates ranging from Rs 855-860.

Meanwhile, the Union government has said that the procurement of wheat in the 2007-08 marketing season is likely to be 151.5 lakh tonne. Most of the procurement is likely to be in Punjab (75 lakh tonne), Haryana (45 lakh tonne), Uttar Pradesh (15 lakh tonne), Bihar (10 lakh tonne), Madhya Pradesh (3 lakh tonne), Rajasthan (2 lakh tonne), Uttarakhand (1 lakh tonne) and Gujarat (0.5 lakh tonne).