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Informist, Wednesday, Sep 11, 2024

By J. Navya Sruthi

MUMBAI – Wheat, maize, and rice prices were steady today in key markets across the country, traders said. Wheat traders await the government's announcement on imports amid lower stocks in the country.

Prices of WHEAT in Mumbai's Vashi mandi were steady at 2,950 rupees per 100 kg, Devendra Vora, a wholesale broker, said. Prices of wheat in Rajasthan's Kota market were also steady at 2,600 rupees per 100 kg and arrivals were unchanged from the previous day at 6,000 bags (1 bag = 50 kg), Aniket Mehta, a local trader, said. 

Amid low stocks in the country, the government may soon lower import duty on wheat or buy the grain on a government-to-government basis, Vora said. He expects the announcement to be made later this month.

Currently, there is 40% duty on wheat imports, which is hefty enough to deter traders from buying the commodity from other top producers like Russia and Ukraine. Meanwhile, the government's wheat stocks have fallen to 25.1 mln tn, below the Jul-Sep buffer norms of 27.58 mln tn, according to data from the Food Corp of India. Wheat stocks were down 3.4% on year and over 6% lower than last month's stocks, according to the data.

The fall in wheat stocks is mainly due to lower procurement by the government during Apr-Jun. The government could not meet its wheat procurement target of 30-32 mln tn for rabi marketing season 2024-25 (Apr-Mar). Procurement of wheat by the government ended on Jun 30, with the Centre managing to buy 26.60 mln tn from farmers, just slightly more than 26.20 mln tn procured last year.

Prices of MAIZE were steady at 2,850-2,900 rupees per 100 kg in Karnataka's Davanagere, traders said. Amid better-than-normal sowing due to above-normal rains during the current kharif season, traders expect prices to fall in the near term. 

Karnataka's maize acreage as of Friday was 1.6 mln ha, up from 1.5 mln ha a year ago, according to the state government's sowing report. Traders expect maize production to rise this year. Arrivals of the new crop will begin by the end of this month or early next month.

Prices of basmati RICE were steady at 7,000-7,300 rupees per 100 kg in Vashi, Devendra Vora, a wholesale broker, said.

End

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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