After Indonesia banned export of palm oil, neighbouring India now came up with an announcement to restrict wheat export leaving a potential doubt over the hike of flour price.
India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification that it prohibits wheat export that the world was counting on to alleviate supply constraints sparked by the war in Ukraine, saying that the nation's food security is under threat.
All the shipments will be banned with immediate effect.
According to the Food Ministry data, Bangladesh’s annual demand for wheat is around 7.5 million MT, of which just 1 million MT is produced locally on average in a year.
The remaining demand is met by importing wheat from India, Russia, Ukraine, Canada, Argentina and USA.
India emerged as a major wheat exporter to Bangladesh in FY 2020-21, downgrading Ukraine to 3rd position. Canada’s wheat export volume to Bangladesh also saw a rise from about 1 million tons in 2019-20 to over 1.4 million tons in the last fiscal.
Bangladesh imported 60 percent of the total wheat from India in 2020-21 due to less costlier and easier transport.
Secretary to the Food Ministry Dr. Mosammat Nazmunara Khanum says the Indian embargo would have no effect on food security in Bangladesh till August as a third of the amount, 1 lakh MT, is already onboard a ship for Bangladesh.
Enough wheat to meet domestic demand has already been imported or is in the pipeline.
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