Wheat imports by pvt players at 749,000 tn

Private players have imported 749,000 tonne wheat so far in the current financial year, a senior government official said today.

"The plant quarantine authority has cleared import of 749,000 tonne wheat under the Open General Licence (OGL) till date in the current financial year," the official said.

Though the plant quarantine authority had originally given licences for import of over 3 million tonne wheat under OGL, actual imports have been very low due to high international prices.

Of the total quantity imported under the OGL, almost all has reached Indian shores, an industry official said.

He said one ship carrying 40,000 tonne Kazakhstan-origin wheat imported by Concordia was unloading at Tuticorin port, while Cargill's 40,000 tonne consignment of Hungarian origin wheat was unloading at the Chennai port.

"These are the last shipments of wheat imported on the private account...no more private wheat import shipments are likely for now," the official said.

He said though the government had allowed duty-free wheat import till February 28, the move was unlikely to result in any more imports under OGL.

The government had reduced the duty on wheat import under OGL to 5 per cent from 50 per cent in June to encourage private imports.

In September, it further slashed the import duty on wheat to nil. The concession, which was valid till December 31 earlier, had now been extended to February 28.

The official said there was a glut of wheat stocks at both Tuticorin and Chennai ports.

"About 100,000 tonne imported wheat is lying unsold at the Tuticorin port, while another 100,000 tonne has been sold but remain undelivered, thus, totalling 200,000 tonne wheat stranded at the port," the official said.

He said the stock lying at the ports was not being lifted due to low demand. "Further imports, therefore, are highly unlikely," the official said.