Mandatory registration on the govt anvil to curb wheat flour exports

After having banned wheat export, the Central government might look to curb the shipping out of wheat flour by making registration mandatory for all participants just as in the case of sugar.

However, an outright ban is ruled out for now, trade and market sources said.

This, despite the fact that the retail price of wheat flour (atta) has dropped by Rs 1-3 per kg since wheat export was banned on May 13.

Other wheat-related products too could come under some sort of restriction.

Sources said a curb on exports was being considered to ensure that fly-by-night operators and those who were in the market to make fast money did not export unusual amounts of wheat flour to bypass the ban on wheat export.

“The government might think something along the lines of Export Release Orders (EROs) for wheat flour exporters as it has done for sugar exporters to ensure that only genuine players enter the business,” a source said.

Some reports said India usually exported 6,000-8,000 tonnes of wheat flour during April-June per month, and that has climbed to almost 100,000 tonnes because of the ban.

This could not be independently verified.

Meanwhile, some flour millers do not seem to be in favour of any such curb on the grounds that it will put another layer of regulation.

“We don’t see any big reason for curbing exports as prices have softened after wheat exports were stopped on May 13 and supplies of main raw material, which in this case is wheat, are sufficient for now,” a senior official from the flour millers’ association said.

India’s wheat flour exports rose sharply in FY22 in tandem with wheat.

In FY22, India exported 7 million tonnes of wheat, a record and worth around $2.12 billion, and this in value terms was 274 per cent more than in the same period last year.

But, in FY23, a report by Origo Commodities showed that in May India’s wheat exports were 1.13 million tonnes, down from the 1.46 million tonnes in April 2022.

The combined export in April and May 2022 was around 2.59 million tonnes. This was almost 2 million tonnes higher than in the same period last year, the report said.

If export wasn’t banned, India could have sent out 8-10 million tonnes, but this now looks to be 4-4.5 million tonnes or less, even if the government allows all the wheat contracted for export to be shipped out of India.