Wednesday, Feb 27, 2013
By Sameer C. Mohindru
India's state-run MMTC Ltd. Wednesday received five bids in a tender to export 40,000 metric tons of wheat, the highest from Singapore-based trader Agrocorp International at of $300/ton, free on board, trading executives said.
The wheat is for March 10-April 5 shipment from the western port of Mormugao.
The government had rejected the highest bid of around $305/ton, FOB in a previous tender for exports from Mormugao held recently, and called for fresh bids.
MMTC has until March 6 to decide on the latest bids. Exporters had to bid for the entire quantity and the successful bidder will have to lift the full volume in one vessel.
Buyers in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa are snapping up cargoes of Indian wheat as drought has hurt supply from Russia, Australia and Ukraine.
Winter wheat plantings in the U.S., the world's largest exporter, have also been hit by drought.
India is selling surplus wheat via tenders to global trading companies to clear storage space for the next crop, being harvested from mid-February.
Bids in Indian government tenders have declined by around $10/ton in the past two weeks, tracking a fall in international prices in the run-up to the South American harvest and recent rains in the U.S.
Write to Sameer C. Mohindru at sameer.mohindru@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
27-02-13 1015GMT
