March 26, 2013

Flour millers in South East Asia say the quality of Indian wheat can be exceptional one shipment and very ordinary the next, but the price of Indian wheat is hard to beat. It can be up to US$40 per tonne cheaper than Australian wheat.

Abhay Hardikar is the deputy director of agricultural services with SGS, which is working with Indian exporters to ensure their wheat meets market specifications.

He says competitors currently have the edge on India in terms of cleaning and handling facilities, but if that changes, India will compete with the best on price and quality.

"Right now it goes in the discounted pricing, Indian wheat, because of non-mechanised loading and kind of remnants remaining in there," he said.

"But yes, if it becomes a consistent phenomenon for exports, I am sure Australian wheat would find a very close competitor with consistent quality in India."