Sitting on a stock of 5.5 million tonnes of wheat before the marketing season, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) today expressed confidence that it would meet the government's procurement target of 1.5 million tonnes for public distribution system. "The closing stock is 5.5 million tonnes as against the buffer norm of 4 million tonnes,' FCI Chairman and Managing Director Alok Sinha told reporters here. When asked about the procurement, Sinha said, "I am absolutely sure that we will achieve the target.' He also asserted that FCI would procure more grain if it came to them. FCI, the nodal agency for foodgrains procurement and distribution, aims to purchase 15 million tonnes of wheat in rabi marketing season 2008-09, which starts from April 1. The government was able to procure only 1.1 million tonnes last year, forcing it to import 1.8 million tonnes to augment buffer stock. Sinha said FCI and other state procurement agencies had already bought over 100,000 tonnes of wheat, mainly from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The process would start in Punjab and Haryana from April 1. He noted that private traders are not interested in buying wheat this year because of stable price and this would help FCI in meeting the target. Nafed had been procuring wheat in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh on behalf of FCI, he said, adding that there were other agencies such as STC which had also shown interest in procurement. On rice, Sinha said FCI would have a stock of 22 million tonnes as of April 1, which was two million tonnes more than last year's. Meanwhile, the world's wheat trade is predicted to increase by 7 million tonnes (mt) in 2008-09, with imports from India, Algeria and Iraq likely to be larger, according to the International Grains Council. "World wheat trade is forecast to increase by 7 mt. Larger imports are expected, in particular, by India, Algeria and Iraq,' the IGC grain report said. The European Union was, however, expected to buy less wheat this year, the council said. According to the report, global wheat output is estimated to go up by 6.95 per cent to 646 mt, mainly on account of increased plantings in the US, the European Union and Canada. "Wheat production should recover strongly but use will also increase, limiting the recovery in stocks,' IGC said, adding that the demand for wheat, which was held back by high prices in 2007-08, was likely to grow faster this year. Total consumption would stand at 630 mt, up 18 mt from previous year. While total carry over stock of wheat would surge by 14.28 per cent to 128 mt, it added.