Imports may total 5 million metric tonnes in 2016-17, the most since 2006-07, according to estimates
New Delhi: India may import the most wheat in a decade as output declines in the world’s second-biggest producer.
Imports may total 5 million metric tonnes in 2016-17, the most since 2006-07, according to the median estimate of seven traders surveyed by Bloomberg. Production is set to decline 1.8% to 85 million metric tonnes in the year through June from a year earlier, according to the median estimate of nine traders and flour millers compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the lowest since 2009-10 and compares with the government’s estimate of 94.8 million tonnes.
“One of the most critical issues is what’s the production number going to look like,” Abdolreza Abbassian, senior economist at the United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organization in Rome, said by phone. “There will be higher imports than a year earlier, but nothing too big because of the large stocks.”
Even as dry weather curbs output for a second year, stockpiles at the start of May were 14% bigger than the government’s 1 July target, Food Corp. of India data show. While the country last week decided to extend its 25% import duty on wheat, some southern flour mills are already sourcing grain from overseas. Demand for wheat is robust and steadily increasing, according to B.K. Anand, head of grain and oilseeds business with Cargill India Pvt. Ltd
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