Informist, Wednesday, Feb 28, 2024
NEW DELHI – Food Corp of India today sold 465,000 tn of wheat under the Open Market Sales Scheme through its weekly electronic auctions, data accessed from the corporation showed. With this, total sales in 2023-24 (Apr-Mar) stand at a record 9.41 mln tn as of today, the data showed.
At its latest auction held today, FCI offered 500,000 tn of wheat at a weighted average selling price of 2,279.45 rupees per 100 kg, down 42.3 rupees from last week, according to the data.
Demand for wheat at these auctions remained robust even as the government last week said sales are likely to be tapered down as procurement of the grain in northern states will commence from the first week of March.
Buyers from the north zone bought the highest amount of wheat at 264,030 tn today, of the 270,880 tn offered by FCI. The weighted average selling price in the north was 2,250.78 rupees per 100 kg, lower than the average selling price for the country. The east zone took up 87,370 tn of wheat at an average price of 2,395.03 rupees per 100 kg. The average selling price was the highest in the northeast at 2,401.14 rupees per 100 kg.
On Tuesday, the all-India average wholesale price of wheat was at 2,739 rupees per 100 kg, compared with 2,748 rupees per 100 kg a week ago, FCI data showed. A month ago, the wholesale price was at 2,777 rupees per 100 kg. Measures such as selling wheat under the Bharat Atta brand and holding weekly auctions have helped in reining in high prices over the last few months.
Meanwhile, the offtake of rice at today’s auction remained poor. FCI sold just 8,000 tn of rice today, out of the 35,000 tn offered. So far, in 2023-24 (Apr-Mar), FCI has sold a total of only 187,520 tn of rice. Today, the weighted average selling price of the grain was 2,983.99 rupees per 100 kg, slightly higher than 2,983.38 rupees per 100 kg the previous week.
The sale of rice was also highest in the north zone at 3,920 tn out of the 7,000 tn offered by FCI. The weighted average selling price of the grain in the north was at 2,986.60 rupees per 100 kg, according to the data.
Domestic prices of rice have firmed up as production was lower due to erratic climatic conditions. FCI data showed that on Tuesday, the all-India wholesale price of rice was at 3,904 rupees per 100 kg, up from 3,876 rupees per 100 kg a week ago, and 3,856 rupees from the corresponding period in January. Last week, the government had said that prices of essential commodities have been stable for the last few months, except those of rice. At a recent press conference, Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said the government planned to sell around 1.5 mln tn of rice under its Bharat brand in the next four to five months