NEW DELHI: India, a net edible oils importer, has floated a global tender for export of mustard seed procured from farmers.

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India has invited offers for exports of mustard seed from the 2005 crop, the firm said in an advertisement published in the Economic Times newspaper on Monday.

The state-run firm said the oil content in mustard seed was estimated at 40 percent on dry weight basis. But it did not specify the quantity of mustard it plans to export. Traders estimated the firm had procured about 2.1 million tonnes of mustard from farmers and held stocks of about 1.7 million tonnes. The new crop will be harvested in March.

“The firm does not want to sell it domestically because it will fetch a much lower price than the level it was procured from farmers,” a Bombay-based industry official said. He said domestic companies should also be allowed to participate in the tender.

Traders said the domestic price for mustard/rapeseed ranged around 15,000 rupees ($331.9) a tonne, against 17,000 rupees at which the firm had procured the oilseed.

“On the one hand the industry is starving for raw material while on the other the government wants to export oilseeds,” said B.V. Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors' Association of India.

He said there was not much demand globally for the Indian mustard, which was a pungent variety used mostly by consumers in the Indian subcontinent. India annually produces about 6.0 million tonnes of mustard mainly in the desert state of Rajasthan, northern Uttar Pradesh and central Madhya Pradesh.

Overseas buyers have been asked to specify the quantity, price and period of shipment from any Indian port in response to the tender, which closes on Dec. 30.

India imports nearly half of its edible oil needs of 10 million tonnes. reuters