Bird flu continues to hit maize futures

With the outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal, along with fresh arrivals from Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, bearish sentiments have been stoked in the maize market.

The Rs 38,000-crore poultry industry consumes almost over 65 per cent of the maize produced in the country. However, due to bird flu, the demand from the industry has gone down, which is reflecting in the falling prices.

Since the beginning of this month, April maize futures have dropped by 12 per cent from Rs 869 a quintal to Rs 795. Commodity analysts and Indian representative at the US Grains Council have maintained a bearish outlook for maize .

The country's maize production in the kharif season was above 13.5 million tonnes against 11.2 million tonnes in the previous season.

However, despite higher production, incessant exports (which have so far touched close to 900,000 tonnes) brought sharp increase in maize prices till a fortnight back.

Market estimates suggest that exports this season could surpass all the previous limits and reach 1.5-2 million tonnes. Starch manufacturers are already into the procurement process. All these factors signal a strong trend in the maize market once the rabi arrivals get over by mid-May.

Though the rabi season contributes less than 20 per cent of the overall crop, sentiments arising due to arrivals will keep the market at bay.

On the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, the maize April contract closed on Tuesday at Rs 795 a quintal against the previous close of Rs 800 a quintal.