Indian wheat futures fell slightly on Wednesday with new crop arrivals picking up in key grain producing northern states, while sugar prices slipped on profit taking, brokers said.
Soyoil was mixed after gaining sharply following a government announcement last week of new rules to govern the import of genetically-modified foods.
At 0655 GMT, the April wheat contract at the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) fell 3 rupees to 792.60 per 100 kg. The May contract was down 5.60 rupees at 821.
"The pressure of arrivals is impacting the market," a broker based in the capital, New Delhi, said.
But wheat prices are still about 100 rupees per 100 kg higher than in the corresponding period last year, driven up by estimates that the national harvest is likely to come in at around 70 million tonnes, against earlier predictions of 72 million tonnes.
Sugar futures were trading lower on profit taking. The market has been rising over the past few days because of strong summer demand from cold drink and ice-cream manufacturers.
"It's a temporary situation, the market will start rising again and May should be a good month," a trader said.
The April sugar contract at the NCDEX fell 8 rupees to 1,960 per 100 kg, while May sugar was down 12 rupees at 2,079.
Soyoil prices were mixed. Last week, the government's annual statement on overseas trade made it mandatory for all genetically-modified products to carry a declaration from the exporter.
Traders said India's soyoil imports are expected to be around 300,000 tonnes lower than earlier estimates of 2 million tonnes in the year to March 2007.
The April soyoil contract at the NCDEX was down 0.05 rupees at 398 per 10 kg, while the May contract rose by an equal amount to 403.50.
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