India will import only about half of the 1 million tonnes of wheat it sought at a tender, a government official said on Tuesday, marking a belated start to its overseas purchases to build buffer stocks.
The food ministry has asked government-owned State Trading Corp, which issued the tender last month, to import 511,000 tonnes of wheat at $317-$330 per tonne, the official, who did not want to identified, told Reuters.
"Three global trading firms Cargill, Toepfer and Ritz have been asked to supply a total of 511,000 tonnes of wheat," he said. The grain would be imported through the western port of Maunder, which can accommodate large vessels, the official said.
The STC last week received seven bids from firms, including Alfred C. Toepfer, Cargill Inc, Concord Aigrette, Glendora AG and Louis Dreyfus of France, to sell a total of 920,000 tonnes of wheat at between $320-$360 a tonne, including some levies.
At the time, traders said the government was unlikely to buy large quantities at such prices. The government asked the seven firms to lower their bid prices, but none did. In May, the government scrapped an import tender for 1 million tonnes as it considered the average price of $263 per tonne to be too high. Prices continued to rise, however, with wheat hitting 11-year highs on the Chicago Board of Trade in June.