Monsoon rains 33 pct below average in mid-July

Enlarge Photo Hindu priests perform "Astottara Shatha Kundali Mukha Varun Yagam", a special prayer for rain, to...

Thu, Jul 24 09:20 PM

By Mayank Bhardwaj

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's annual June-September monsoon rains, vital for rice, cotton, oilseed and corn output, were 33 percent below normal in the past week but are likely to revive in the worst-hit western and southern regions.

Traders say India will have to import some food items if rains do not revive and trade bodies have already forecast higher edible oil imports as the oilseed crop in western and southern areas is likely to shrink.

The weather office, which had forecast normal rains this year, said on Thursday total rainfall since June was 2 percent below normal although it has been uneven, being 26 percent above normal in the first three week, and deficient in the July 17-23.

It said a low-pressure area was likely to form near the Bay of Bengal around July 27.

"This development is considered as a signal for revival of monsoon activity along the west coast and over central and adjoining peninsular (southern) India," it said, adding that there would be lesser rains in foothills of the Himalayas, gangetic plains and northeastern states in the next week.

Scant rainfall is bad news for the government which is battling inflation that has surged to a 13-year high, largely due to a sharp rise in commodity prices.

Trade officials say higher imports by India will raise palm oil prices in Malaysia and soyoil prices in Chicago as the country is the world's biggest vegetable oil buyer after China.

Ashok Sethia, president of the Solvent Extractors' Association, a leading industry body, has said if the monsoon does not revive soon oilseed crops would be severely damaged.

A revival in the monsoon will also boost rice output.

Higher rice production will help the government lift restrictions on rice exports. Easing curbs on overseas sales by India is likely to help benchmark Thai prices fall.

On Wednesday, the median price quoted by Bangkok exporters was $750 per tonne, up from last week's $730 per tonne but still well below the record of $1,080 per tonne in April.

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