NEW DELHI: Indian importers have purchased 2.7 million tonnes of wheat from Australia, France and Ukraine so far this fiscal and additional 1.2 million tonnes of grain is expected to arrive by the end of next month. However, traders have not signed any import deals for wheat delivery beyond March as they are sceptical that the Government may reimpose customs duty on the grain when the harvesting of the new crop starts from April 2017.
Last month, the Government had brought down wheat import duty to zero from 10 per cent to boost domestic availability and check price rise.
"About 2.7 million tonnes of wheat has been imported so far in 2016-17 from Ukraine, Australia and France. About 1.2 million tonnes of wheat will arrive by February-end," Federation of India Ex-President M K Datta Raj said recently.
Only 3,00,000 tonnes of wheat was imported last month as shipments could not sail due to severe cold weather in some countries, he said, adding the shipments from Australia are on their way.
Source: Dailyshippingtimes.com