The China Grain Reserves Group (Sinograin) is planning to sell 260,000 tonnes of wheat from state reserves in the northern port of Tianjin on October 25.
The wheat, imported from Canada and the United States in 1999, had been stored in the northern ports of Dalian, Qinhuangdao, Qingdao, Lianyungang and the eastern and southern ports of Shanghai, Fangcheng and Xinsha, the company said in a notice published at www.tjgrain.com.cn.
Sinograin in March had planned to sell 400,000 tonnes of wheat, but only sold half of the amount due to the high price. A market official said the starting price for the October auction had not been fixed.
Analysts expect the domestic wheat price to remain stable in October, with the spot ex-granary price in the central province of Henna at 1,560 yuan per tonne, slightly down from 1,580 yuan per tonne in September.
China aims to increase 2004/2005 winter wheat output by four percent, which compared with 83.1 million tonnes in 2003/2004, the agricultural ministry has said.