India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to increase the country’s grain exports and increase the country’s presence on the global market by creating a consistent export policy. If corrective measures are enacted, grain trade flows could open up and red tape hindering trade could be cut. Reforms could see India selling more wheat to Southeast Asia, creating heightened competition for Western Australian wheat on the Southeast Asian market. Historically India has been viewed more as a feed supplier due to the lower quality of its wheat, but if the country begins modernizing its supply chain resulting in reliability and improved quality, the shifts in market share could be challenging for Australia. However, Cargill Australia corporate affairs director Peter McBride believes that breaking into the Asian wheat market will be more challenging for India because of the country’s ailing infrastructure and poor storage systems and that Indian wheat will prove to be more competitive with Russian wheat that is typically blended at 10% with Australian wheat by Asian customers. To read further:
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