April 4, 2006

 

India to receive purchased wheat in early April, more expected

 

 

The first shipment of imported wheat in six years is expected to arrive in India on April 8 or 9, a senior government official said Monday (Apr 3).

 

Half of the 500,000 tonnes imported will come in the first two weeks of April, said an official, adding that the rest would be arriving in the first half of May.

 

Part of the reason why India decided to import wheat instead of sending wheat from its northern wheat growing regions to the southern regions (where it is needed) is because of the cheaper freight costs, a government official said. 

 

The food ministry had awarded a tender for 500,000 tonnes of wheat to Australian exporter AWB Ltd last month to build stocks and control rising prices in the non-wheat growing southern states.

 

Adverse weather may force the government to import greater volumes.

 

Last week, the government said it was planning to float a new tender to import an additional 1.5 million tonnes of wheat. A spokesman said it was part of contingency planning and they would have to monitor the harvesting of domestic crops before confirming the tender. A decision would most likely be reached by the end of April.

 

Although the government spokesman said yield for this year looked promising, he conceded there was damage to the crop from recent rains and hailstorms in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

 

If the damage was extensive, this would have been the second year unusually hot weather in February and the sudden rains in March have affected wheat output.

 

Last summer's wheat crop was 72 million tonnes, 4 million tonnes short of expectations, mainly due to bad weather. The shortfall prompted the government to consider imports for the first time in six years.

 

The government put the estimated wheat output at around 73 million tonnes this year, although traders say the figure could be lower.