Wheat Price Rises 40%, Indian Exports Up 250% to Hit 7mn tonnes

[ABS News Service/19.03.2022]

Indian officials said the country’s wheat exports were seeing a sharp increase as global prices shot up in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine combined provide more than a quarter of the global wheat market, which is estimated at about 200 million metric tons for the year. With Ukraine banning exports to avoid food shortages and a humanitarian crisis at home and the war affecting broader supply chains, many countries are now looking elsewhere to buy wheat.

India often has a surplus of grain, which the government buys from farmers at minimum guaranteed prices. Exports have typically remained relatively small because the price of wheat is usually lower in the international market. The sudden hike in global wheat prices has increased the demand for Indian wheat and made it competitive for export, said Sudhanshu Pandey, India’s secretary of food and public distribution.

Mr. Pandey said India was on course to export about seven million metric tons of wheat for the fiscal year that ends on March 31, compared with two million metric tons last year. He said they were preparing for at least 10 million metric tons of wheat for the next fiscal year.

“The way export contracts are being executed by private parties is an indication that the demand for Indian wheat has gone up,” Mr. Pandey said. “We hope that this year the export of wheat will be the highest ever.”

He said the conflict in Ukraine had been the major trigger, as it had sent many countries scrambling to secure wheat supplies for the winter.

“All countries that used to get supplies in August and September — and that wheat used to feed them for winter — they have to finalize their plans now,” Mr. Pandey said. “If in September they don’t get supplies, it becomes very critical for them in the winter months.”

India has tried to maintain a difficult balancing act since the invasion, refusing to support international sanctions against Russia while also remaining engaged with Ukraine and the West