State agencies – PEC Ltd, STC Ltd and MMTC Ltd – invited bids on Friday to export 2.4 lakh tonnes (lt) of wheat from Government stocks.
PEC Ltd has issued bids for export of 90,000 tonnes of wheat stocked at Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns in Kandla port.
Similarly, STC has invited bids for export of 1 lt wheat stored in FCI godowns at Mundra Port.
MMTC has invited bids for export of 50,000 tonnes from Pipavav.
The bids for the export of wheat produced in 2011-12 and 2012-13 will close on August 3. The shipments would take place in August-September.
Recently, the Government had approved export of two million tonnes of wheat from its stocks at a floor price of $228 a tonne to make storage space for the new crop.
In May, STC cancelled a tender to export wheat because the bids received were below the international prices.
Global prices
Global wheat prices have shot up in the past few weeks on dry conditions impacting output in countries such as Russia, Ukraine and Australia. The Chicago Board of Trade futures were hovering around $8.5 a bushel, making Indian wheat attractive in the global market.
On July 1, wheat stocks stood at 49.8 million tonnes (mt) with Government agencies, much higher than the buffer norm of 17.1 mt for the current quarter. The Government godowns are overflowing with a record 82 mt of rice and wheat against the storage capacity of 64 mt.
India, the world’s second largest wheat producer, had harvested 90.23 mt in the 2011-12 crop year (July-June). This has lead to record procurement of nearly 38 mt so far this year. In September last year, wheat exports through private trade had been allowed. Since then, about 1.3 mt have been shipped.