Wheat export ban: consignments registered by May 13 allowed to be shipped

New Delhi: According to a statement from the Commerce Ministry on Tuesday, the central government has announced relaxations to its order that restricted wheat exports. "It's been decided that wherever wheat consignments have been handed over to customs for examination and registered into their systems on or prior to May 13, such consignments would be allowed for export," the statement read.

"The government also allowed a wheat consignment headed for Egypt, which was already under loading at the Kandla port. This followed a request by the Egyptian government to permit the wheat cargo being loaded at the Kandla port. M/s Mera International India Pvt. Ltd., the company engaged for export of the wheat to Egypt, had also given a representation for completion of loading of 61,500 MT of wheat of which 44,340 MT of wheat had already been loaded and only 17,160 MT was left to be loaded. The government decided to permit the full consignment of 61,500 MT and allowed it to sail from Kandla to Egypt," the statement informed.

On Saturday, the government had issued a complete ban on all shipments of wheat, effective immediately. This included including high-protein durum and normal soft bread varieties which was shifted to the 'prohibited' category from the 'free' category.

According to the Indian Express, after executing the ban, the government in a notification by the Department of Commerce stated that only two kinds of shipments would be allowed: exports based on permission granted by the Centre to other countries "to meet their food security needs" and "on the request of their governments"; and contracted exports against which irrevocable letters of credit have already been issued "on or before the date of this notification, subject to submission of documentary evidence as prescribed".

When the global markets opened up on Monday, after the ban, the international prices of wheat shot up by almost 6 percent per bushel (60 pounds or one million kernels or 27.21 kg). Meanwhile, the local prices dropped steeply in various states by 4-8 per cent. The prices were Rs. 200-250 a quintal in Rajasthan, Rs. 100-150 a quintal in Punjab, and about Rs. 100 a quintal in Uttar Pradesh.