India May Consider Resuming Rice, Wheat And Sugar Exports .

NEW DELHI : India may resume export of rice, wheat and sugar subject to a favourable decision in this regard from the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM).

India’s Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar, according to media reports is in favour of exporting the staple varieties. He expressed confidence that EGoM would consider export of grains and sugar.

India’s buffer stocks are at comfortable levels and the country is expecting a bumper harvest of grains, he was quoted by Financial Express as saying.

Food ministry data says that as on February 1, about 47 million tons of food grains are stored in the warehouses of Food Corporation of India. 27.8 million tons of rice and 19.37 million tons of wheat ranks above the strategic reserve and buffer stocks norms.

Further, India is expected to record wheat output to the tune of 81.47 million tons in 2010-11, against 80.71 million tons in the previous year. Rice output would be to the tune of 94 million tons this year as against 89 million tons for previous year, while sugar output is expected to touch 24.5 million tons production mark for 2010-11 compared with 19 million tons of previous year. (Annual Indian domestic sugar demand is pegged at 22 million tons while opening stocks of the commodity is at 5 million tons).

Given the scarcity of rice and wheat in the international market, the prices of grains, globally, are staying up. China is the latest in a row to fall prey to the scourge of drought and some analysts are of the view that China may even consider importing of wheat; something which it has not done for decades.

In India, a ban has been in place for exports of wheat since February 2007 and non-basmati rice since April 2008.

The minister was of the view that Minimum Export Price of onion should be brought down from the current level of $600 per ton to make it globally competitive. Prevailing international export price of onion is around $ 250-300 per ton.

Source : commodityonline.com