India bans wheat exports due to high temperatures

Wheat / ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia

India has banned wheat exports days after announcing it was targeting record shipments this year as a heat wave cut production and domestic prices hit a record high, according to Reuters.

The government said it would still allow exports backed by already issued credentials to countries seeking supplies "to meet their food safety needs".

The move to ban overseas deliveries was not permanent and could be reviewed, senior government officials told a news conference.

Global buyers have been taking stock of the world's second-largest wheat producer after exports from the Black Sea region fell after Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine. Prior to the ban, India aimed to deliver a record 10 million tonnes this year.

Officials added that there has been no dramatic decline in wheat production this year, but unregulated exports have led to a rise in local prices.

"We do not want the wheat trade to take place in an unregulated way or to cause a build-up," BIA Trade Secretary Subrahmanyam told reporters in New Delhi.

Although not one of the world's largest exporters of wheat, India's ban could push global prices to new highs given its already tight supply, which will hit poor consumers in Asia and Africa particularly hard.

Rising food and energy prices have pushed India's annual retail inflation close to its highest level in eight years, boosting expectations that the central bank will raise interest rates more aggressively.

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