International Business: India bans wheat exports as heat wave hits crop and domestic prices increase – Gulf Digital News

International Business: India bans wheat exports as heat wave hits crop and domestic prices increase – Gulf Digital News

MUMBAI: India banned wheat exports yesterday 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”.

The move to ban overseas shipments was not in perpetuity and could be revised, senior government officials told a Press conference.

Global buyers were banking on supplies from the world’s second-biggest wheat producer after exports from the Black Sea region plunged following Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine. Before the ban, India had aimed to ship a record 10 million tonnes this year.

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

“We don’t want wheat trade to happen in an unregulated manner or hoarding to happen,” commerce secretary BVR Subrahmanyam told reporters in New Delhi.

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.

“The ban is shocking,” a Mumbai-based dealer