Global wheat prices rise after India export ban and Ukraine war: FAO
Last month, India declared 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.
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The price of wheat has risen in the international markets after India announced a ban on the export of wheat 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 keeps a track of 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 to this, the international coarse grain prices reduced 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.