STC postpones opening of wheat import bids
With an impressive procurement of 93 lakh tonne of wheat up to May 6 signalling “success” of the `import threat’ pressure tactics on farmers, the Centre has now decided to delay opening of bids by State Trading Corporation (STC) for import of one ...
By Prabha Jagannathan, TNN |
NEW DELHI: With an impressive procurement of 93 lakh tonne of wheat up to May 6 signalling “success” of the `import threat’ pressure tactics on farmers, the Centre has now decided to delay opening of bids by State Trading Corporation (STC) for import of one million tonne of wheat. The revised date for opening of bids is May 21 compared to the original schedule of May 10.
The decision to spell out the possibility of imports up to three million tonne of wheat last month was made with the intention of making farmers offload more of their produce into the market.
Significantly, the decision to direct the STC to extend the date for opening of bids is expected to give the Centre a “better leeway” in wheat import price. Besides, well-placed sources acknowledge that the extension in date for the wheat import tender could allow entry to key players dealing with EU and American wheat.
“The formalities are being processed to allow American wheat to enter the picture. The thinking is that if it’s good enough for Egypt, there could be a review of the standards that are currently making it difficult for US wheat to enter India,” sources said.
The Centre has been mulling relaxation of washing standards set by India for imported wheat to accommodate imports from the US since last year, after active lobbying by the US farm lobby and the government. In addition, the EU wheat crop would come to the world market in August, making for more competitive prices of imports for India.
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The validity of arrival schedule and other details in the STC tender have accordingly been reworked. The schedule for arrival of wheat at Indian ports is now July-August instead of the earlier May-June.By April-end, global wheat prices in an already tight market reportedly shot up by $20 per tonne on news that India is likely to enter the market for big imports. Import prices at the time reigned in the range of $225-240 a tonne cost and freight (C&F), but was expected that this can go up by 10% to 20%.
The current levels of daily procurement compared to even a week ago means that, the Centre can be optimistic on buying up to 110 lakh tonne of wheat over the next fortnight. Along with one million tonne of imports, this would be more than enough to meet the Centre’s PDS, welfare and food security needs.
“There is no doubt that psychological pressure of imports mounted by the government to ensure better market arrivals and procurement has begun working. Given the improved situation, there may not be need to import as much as three million tonne of wheat at all,” food ministry sources said.
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