In the agriculture produce marketing committee (APMC) yards, wheat arrivals from October 1–24 reached a three-year high, while they were lower than the inflow seen during the same period last month. The arrivals at APMCs nationwide between October 1 and 24 were 6.75 lakh tonnes (lt), down from 9.1 lt between September 1 and 24. This is according to data from Agmarknet, a division of the Ministry of Agriculture. However, October’s arrivals reached a three-year high. APMCs received 4.99 lt, 3.81 lt, and 6.9 lt of inflows during the years 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively.
The arrivals since the start of the rabi marketing season on April 1 through the present have also reached a three-year high of 21.51 million tonnes, according to data (mt). Arrivals in comparison to the same period in 2018 were 18 mt, 15.57 mt, and 23.65 mt, respectively. The Food Corporation of India claims that the Center was able to obtain 18.79 mt this year as opposed to 43.44 mt last year. Due to this, the 25 or so mt of wheat that could not be purchased, according to outgoing Union Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey, would have to be sold on the market. The weighted average price of wheat increased to $2,621.3 per quintal in the first week of October from $2,400.74 in the final week of September, demonstrating this as well.
The Consumer Affairs Ministry reports that the price of wheat in retail stores is currently lower at $30.53 compared to $30.65 one month ago. Still. Year over year, they have increased by more than 13%. This month’s first week saw 1.62 lt of arrivals, and the second week saw 2.54 lt. Arrivals were 2.24 lt last week, although the lesser inflow was caused by farmers’ hectic schedules for Diwali preparation. Arrivals this week are essential, especially in light of the fact that the Center set the minimum support price (MSP) for wheat at $2,125 per quintal for the marketing season that begins on April 1.
The cost of a quintal of wheat has increased by $100 to $150 in the last month. Wheat is shipped to Bangalore for $2,800, according to Pramod Kumar, head of the Roller Flour Mills Federation of India. (RFMFI). A miller in the South claimed that September saw a rise in arrivals because farmers may have brought the wheat to ensure they would have enough money for the festival season. Since the MSP is now clear, wheat arrivals may increase in the upcoming weeks, the miller predicted.
Wheat prices reached a record high of over 2,500 per quintal in May of this year due to export demand because of the conflict in Ukraine. As a result, the amount of wheat purchased by FCI decreased by nearly 56%. The Center prohibited wheat exports beginning on May 13 in light of this and to rein in the soaring price of food. Besides export demand, wheat prices gained in view of a heatwave that swept across the country during MarchApril. It affected the crop’s yield. This resulted in wheat production dropping from the initially estimated 111.43 mt this year.
