February 9, 2007

 

China sells 546,244 tonnes wheat

 

 

China sold 546,244 tonnes of wheat in six provinces during its weekly auction Thursday (Feb 8), or 55 percent of the 991,900 tonnes that it had planned to sell.

 

Prices ranged from RMB1,420/tonne to RMB1,690/tonne, up from RMB1,400-1,630/tonne in the previous sale.

 

The sale is part of a series of auctions aimed at stabilising domestic wheat prices.

 

China sold 391,830 tonnes of wheat last week, or 55 percent of the planned sales volume.

 

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

 

Designated state-owned warehouses in six major wheat-growing provinces had bought wheat at minimum purchase prices of RMB1,380-1,440/tonne from June to September 2006.

 

The central government was hoping to protect farmers' incomes with the purchases.

 

China Grain Reserves Corp bought 40.69 billion kilogrammes of wheat at the minimum purchase prices last year.

 

In November, grain trading centres in the provinces started selling the wheat to put a cap on high cash prices stemming from tight supply.