India bans wheat exports as heat wave hurts crop

MUMBAI, MAY 14 REUTERS - India banned wheat exports on Saturday days after saying it was targeting record shipments this year, as a scorching heat wave curtailed output and domestic prices hit a record high.

The government said it would still allow exports backed by already issued letters of credit and to countries that request supplies “to meet their food security needs”.

There was no dramatic fall in wheat output this year, but unregulated exports had led to a rise in local prices, the officials added.

Global buyers were banking on supplies from the world’s secondbiggest wheat producer after exports from the Black Sea region plunged following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Although not one of the world’s top wheat exporters, India’s ban could drive global prices to new peaks given already tight supply, hitting poor consumers in Asia and Africa particularly hard.

A combine deposits harvested wheat in a tractor trolley at a field on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, March 16, REUTERS