India has imposed a wheat export ban. This is now being checked by the authorities.
India is now checking compliance with the wheat export restriction more closely. The Department of Foreign Trade instructed regional authorities to physically review all documents related to wheat exports, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. It should thus close a back door and post-dated documents should be found.
India is the world’s second-largest wheat producer after China, and its export ban imposed in mid-May led to international uncertainty. Shortly thereafter, the ministry specified that there were exceptions, such as agreements made before the ban with a letter of credit or special permits from the Indian government for export to certain countries in order to ensure their food supply.
There is a threat of a shortage of wheat on the world market
Only shortly before the ban did Indian government officials announce that they wanted to help and export significantly more wheat in the face of an impending shortage of wheat on the world market in the wake of the Ukraine war. Ukraine and Russia are also important wheat exporters. Recently there were supply bottlenecks and price increases because of the war. Indian wheat exporters had signed export deals with countries like Egypt and Turkey since the war began.
But then a heat wave in India intervened. This reduces the wheat harvest. Several economists also warned of a possible wheat crisis in India. India produces around 100 million tons of wheat per year. So far, the country has hardly exported any of it. The country with more than 1.3 billion people needs a lot of wheat itself. The government buys in large quantities in order to supply the poor population in the country, among other things.
