January 19, 2007

China sells 392,900 tonnes of wheat

China sold 392,900 tonnes of wheat in six provinces Thursday (Jan 18), 49 percent of the total 800,000 tonnes it planned to sell.

Prices ranged from RMB1,420/tonne to RMB1,660/tonne, compared with RMB1,400/tonne to RMB1,630/tonne in the previous sale.

The wheat was bought by state warehouses under the minimum purchase prices last year.

The sale is among the latest in a series of auctions aimed at stabilising wheat prices. China sold 612,548 tonnes of wheat last week, 61 percent of the planned volume.

China's central government designated state-owned warehouses in six major wheat growing provinces to buy wheat at minimum purchase prices of RMB1,380-1,440/tonne from June to September last year, hoping to protect farmers' incomes.

Grains trading centres in the provinces started selling the wheat in November to cap high cash prices due to a temporary tight supply.