Global wheat prices surge after India’s export ban: FAO
The price of wheat has jumped in the international markets after India announced a ban on the export of the staple cereal and due to the reduced production prospects in Ukraine following the Russian invasion, the UN food agency has said.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Price Index averaged 157.4 points in May 2022, down 0.6 per cent from April. The index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of commonly-traded food commodities, however, remained 22.8 per cent higher than in May 2021.
The FAO Cereal Price Index averaged 173.4 points in May, up 3.7 points (2.2 per cent) from April and as much as 39.7 points (29.7 per cent) above its May 2021 value. “International wheat prices rose for a fourth consecutive month, up 5.6 per cent in May, to average 56.2 per cent above their value last year and only 11 per cent below the record high reached in March 2008,” it said on Friday.
“The steep increase in wheat prices was in response to an export ban announced by India amidst concerns over crop conditions in several leading exporting countries, as well as reduced production prospects in Ukraine because of the war,” it said.
In contrast, international coarse grain prices declined by 2.1 per cent in May but remained 18.1 per cent above their value a year ago. Slightly improved crop conditions in the United States of America, seasonal supplies in Argentina and the imminent start of Brazil’s main maize harvest led maize prices to decline by 3.0 per cent, however, they remained 12.9 per cent above their level of May 2021, it said.
International rice prices increased for the fifth successive month in May. Quotations strengthened in all the major market segments, but monthly increases were least pronounced (2.6 per cent) for the most widely traded Indica varieties, amid ample supplies, especially in India, it said.
Last month, India announced that it was banning wheat exports in a bid to check high prices amid concerns of wheat output being hit by the scorching heat wave. Wheat exports were allowed on the basis of permission granted by the Indian government to other countries to meet their food security needs.