India Bans Wheat Exports over Food Security

Posted on 05/15/2022


India is the second largest producer of wheat. The Indian government has banned exports of the commodity due to a risk to its food security. The information was posted in the government gazette signed by Santosh Kumar Sarangi, the Director General of Foreign Trade, on May 13, 2022. Exports will still be allowed to countries that require wheat for food security needs and based on the requests of their governments. All other new shipments will be banned with immediate effect. Wheat prices in India have increased to record highs. In some spot markets, Wheat was hitting 25,000 rupees per tonne.

Some of the largest importers of Indian wheat in 2020 and 2021 were Bangladesh, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Afghanistan, Qatar, Indonesia, Oman, and Malaysia. The United Arab Emirates got most of their wheat imported in 2020 from India and Ukraine. In 2020, Oman got most of its wheat imports from Russia.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has accelerated supply constraints of wheat and other materials.

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