Wheat Prices Reached All-time High Following India's Export Ban

Wheat prices reached an all-time high on Monday after India opted to restrict exports due to a heatwave that affected output. As the European market opened, the price increased to 435 euros ($453) per tonne.

Since Russia's February invasion of agricultural powerhouse Ukraine, which formerly accounted for 12% of world exports, global wheat prices have risen due to supply concerns.

The increase has fuelled global inflation and generated concerns of starvation and social disruption in poorer nations, which has been worsened by fertiliser shortages and bad crops.

After the hottest March on record, India, the world's second-largest wheat producer, announced a restriction on exports on Saturday.

New Delhi expressed concern over the food security of its 1.4 billion people, citing reasons such as decreased supply and dramatically increased world prices.

Export arrangements done before the order published on May 13 may still be fulfilled but future shipments needed government authorisation, it added.

Exports could happen, though, provided New Delhi approves requests from foreign nations to "meet their food security demands."

India, which has large buffer supplies, has already stated that it is willing to assist in relieving some of the supply shortages created by the Ukraine conflict.

India recently announced that it will send delegations to Egypt, Turkey, and other countries to discuss increasing wheat exports. It was unclear if the visits would take place presently.

The Group of Seven developed nations criticized the export prohibition, claiming that such steps would "worsen the problem" of rising commodity prices.

This impacted wheat farmers in northern India, prompting the government to estimate a 5% drop in output this year from 109 million tonnes in 2021.

"If this ban happened in a regular year, the impact would've been minimal," Andrew Whitelaw, a grains analyst at Melbourne-based Thomas Elder Markets, told Bloomberg.