India prohibits wheat flour exports to lower local prices: To lower costs on the domestic market, the Indian cabinet has authorized limits on the export of wheat flour.
Due to a heatwave that reduced production and caused local prices to reach a record high, the government prohibited the export of wheat itself in mid-May.
According to the government, this embargo increased demand for Indian wheat flour, resulting in a 200% increase in exports between April and July last year and local market prices.
It said in a statement that “there was a policy not to ban or impose any limitations on the export of wheat flour.” A partial revision of the strategy was thus necessary “to preserve food security and contain rising costs.”
In India, the world’s second-largest wheat producer, the tonne’s price increased this week to a record 24,500 rupees ($307).
In the wake of the government’s unexpected export embargo on May 14, which dashed expectations that India might cover the market vacuum created by a decline in exports from the Black Sea area after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, that figure was almost 20% from previous lows.
India had planned to send a record 10 million tonnes this year before the embargo. That would have mostly gone to other emerging nations like Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
In addition to the heatwave’s adverse effects on crops, providing free food to roughly 800 million people during the Covid-19 outbreak has put pressure on India’s massive wheat reserves, which were meant to be a buffer against starvation.
