Indian wheat on demand! In a first, Turkey places orders for 50,000-tonne Indian wheat

Amid an ongoing shortage of agricultural products in the global market due to the Russia-Ukraine war, India has emerged as a major supplier of food to countries around the world. Many countries are turning to New Delhi to buy food amid the acute food crisis in the market.

 

 

Adding their name in the list, Turkey- one of the largest importers of wheat from Ukraine as well as Russia, has now placed an order of 50,000 tonnes of wheat from India. Reportedly, a delegation of Turkey’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has already visited India to facilitate the process and started to buy wheat through private electronic-mandi.

 

Electronic mandi AgriBazzar has received a confirmed order for the execution of 50,00 metric tonnes of wheat from Turkey at a higher than the minimum support price.

 

 

 

Amith Agarwal, CEO, AgriBazaar, while talking to private media house said, "We cannot divulge the names of the buyer and seller due to a confidentiality clause. Similar inquiries from Egypt, Indonesia, and other Middle East countries are currently being received and are being negotiated on our e-platform"

 

This news comes months after, Egypt, the world’s largest importer of Russian and Ukrainian wheat, approved India as a new supplier looking to import a million tonnes. General Authority of Supplies and Commodities (GASC), Egypt’s governmental procurement agency informed about its decision of importing one million tonnes of wheat from India. 

 

It should be noted, that ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, wheat futures shot up to a record of more than $14 a bushel, and are now trading at close to $10.92 per bushel. Ukraine produces about a fifth of the world's high-grade wheat and 7% of all wheat. At this crucial time, India has stepped forward to fill the void that the absence of Ukrainian and Russian wheat supplies has caused around the world.

 

 

 

Before the Russia-Ukraine war, India is the second-largest producer of wheat, with a share of around 14.14 percent of the world's total production in 2020. India produces around 107.59 million tonnes of wheat annually. India accounted for 1% of global exports.

 

However, things changed as soon as the war broke out. In the aftermath of the crisis, prices of Indian wheat on global markets rose to around $360 per tonne (FOB).Private procurers are offering Indian farmers up to ₹ 2,700 a quintal.

 

While speaking with the media, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the country’s wheat exports are likely to cross 100 lakh tonnes (10 million tonnes) during FY 2022-23. The exports have already crossed 70 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 (worth over ₹15,000 crores) as against 21.55 lakh tonnes (over ₹4,000 crores) in 2020-21.

 

With that, India has emerged as an important alternative source of food grains even more, especially with its improved crop quality. The country is aiming to replace Russia and Ukraine in 20-odd wheat importing countries across the globe.