How much of guar gum was exported from the country during April-December 2011? Two arms of the Commerce Ministry have different figures on the shipments.

According to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda), guar gum exports during the first nine months of the last fiscal were 5.03 lakh tonnes (lt) valued at Rs 8,161.93 crore.

Data put out by the Directorate-General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS) show that exports of guar meal, guar gum refined split and guar gum (treated and pulverised) put together were 4.83 lt valued at Rs 7,991.77 crore.

Of the total exports, guar meal made up 57,618.35 tonnes. Guar meal is derived during the process to manufacture split. This is mainly the husk and seed crushings from guar and is used as cattle feed as it is rich in protein.

Guar gum refined split made up 79,498.21 tonnes of the total exports and guar gum (treated and pulverised) the rest.

Guar gum refined split is obtained when the husk in guar is separated from the endosperm. This is then converted into guar gum (treated and pulverised) by grinding before being turned into powder form.

This is what is called guar gum in export circles.

India is the major producer of guarseed and gum, accounting for 80-85 per cent of the global supply. Production in 2011-12 ending June was estimated at around 12 lakh tonnes against a record 15 lakh tonnes the previous year. Asked about the disparity in DGCIS and Apeda data, a Shellac and Forest Products Export Promotion Council (Shefexil) official said that the DGCIS reflected the actual position.

“The DGCIS data are put out with the relevant eight-digit code, whereas Apeda does not. Apeda treats everything as a single entity,” said the official.

Apeda under lens

The problem with Apeda figures is that they are provisional and subject to revision.

This is because, according to officials, the authorities have to get the relevant documents to make entries.

However, Apeda’s figures had come under scrutiny since October last when guar gum exporters and Shefexil pointed out to lacunae in the data.

The issue got murkier in November when exports showed a jump of 3.23 lt to 6.60 lt during April-November from 3.47 lt in April-October.

Analysts and exporters said that it was impossible to export such a huge quantity within a month, particularly when the country did not have that much production capacity. The figures were subsequently revised to 4.29 lt by Apeda.

However, by the time the figures were revised, the damage was done.

Futures on fire

The higher export data led to guarseed and guar gum prices soaring in the spot and futures market.

Though the Forward Markets Commission (FMC), which supervises the functioning of commodity exchanges, came out with a slew of measures including raising the margin money for taking position in the guar complex, prices continued to surge.

On March 26, the Commission banned guar futures after guar gum prices topped Rs 1 lakh a quintal and that of guarseed hit a record Rs 27,000 a quintal.

Simultaneously, the FMC had launched a probe and submitted a report to the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry stating that 44 firms had gained undue advantage of the rise in the guar complex.

Though there has been a demand to revive guarseed and guar gum futures on the ground that farmers would stand to benefit and they are industrial commodities, the Centre is yet to take a stand.

>subramani.mancombu@thehindu.co.in

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