India wheat may edge lower on output hopes

MUMBAI, Nov 18 (Reuters) - India wheat futures may edge lower on Wednesday on hopes of better output, but continuing domestic demand could keep the downside limited, analysts said.

The most-traded December wheat NWTZ9 ended 0.5 percent lower at 1,391.6 rupees per 100 kg in the previous session.

Recent rains in India's wheat-growing northern states, mainly Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, will favour wheat sowing even though high temperatures have reduced the overall crop area, farm and weather officials said. See [ID:nDEL131333]

India aims to raise wheat output by 2 million tonnes from last year. In 2008/09, India produced 80.58 million tonnes.

India is seeking to raise its winter wheat output to overcome a drop in rice production in the wake of the country's worst monsoon since 1972.

Meanwhile, India, one of the world's top wheat consumers, does not have any immediate plans to import the grain, the top government official said on Nov. 16. See [ID:nBMA006430]

On Oct. 1, India had 28.18 million tonnes of wheat stocks, while the buffer norm was 11 million tonnes. See [ID:nBOM437272] At the beginning of the new marketing year in April 2010, stocks are estimated at 10 million tonnes. (Reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Harish Nambiar)