The wheat market was mixed on Friday. Flour and Dara wheat prices increased on domestic demand coupled with low availability, while desi wheat varieties continued to rule flat following slack buying.
Sewa Ram, a wheat trader, told Business Line that increased offtake by flour mills to meet domestic demand, mainly pushed Dara prices up. The Food Corporation of India has stopped the open market sale scheme and this is the prime reason behind the low availability, he said. Low stocks and increased demand pushed flour prices up by Rs 60 for a 90-kg bag in the last two days, said the trader.
In the physical market, dara prices increased by Rs 55 a quintal and quoted between Rs 1,290 and Rs 1,300. Around 50 tonnes of dara variety arrived from Uttar Pradesh and the stocks were directly offloaded at the mills. Mill delivery was at Rs 1,290-1,295 while delivery at the chakki was at Rs 1,300 .
On the other hand, desi wheat varieties continued to rule flat. Tohfa sold at Rs 1,980; Bhojan King at Rs 2,070, while the Nokia variety was traded at 2,000 a quintal.
On the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, wheat for August delivery increased by Rs 32 and touched a high at Rs 1,404. September contracts went up by Rs 12 to Rs 1,396 a quintal. Spot wheat prices on the exchange ruled at Rs 1,370. Flour Prices
With an uptrend in wheat, flour went up by Rs 60 and quoted at Rs 1,300 for a 90-kg bag. On the other hand, Chokar went down by Rs 50 on sluggish demand and sold at Rs 620 for a 49-kg bag.