The Ukrainian government has banned the export of some items to other countries and imposed new rules on food exports as the country is fighting Russia’s invasion.
“To prevent the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, market stability and meet the needs of the people of important foods, the government has established new rules on the export of agricultural products,” said Roman Reschenko, Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food. I am.Ukraine said on March 8th statement..
The new directive bans the export of oats, millet, buckwheat, sugar, salt, wheat, cattle and their by-products. Items such as wheat and wheat-rye mixtures (meslin), domestic chicken, sunflower oil and corn can now only be exported under certain declarative licenses. The government confirmed that everything else could be exported normally, except for the items listed.
Ukraine and Russia together make up about 80 percent of the world’s sunflower oil exports. Thus, the disruption in oil supply means that buyers need to look for alternatives. India is reportedly considering soybean oil and palm oil as alternatives to compensate for the loss of sunflower oil.
Ukraine is often referred to as the “European breadbasket” and is a major exporter of grain. The country accounts for 19 percent of the world’s rapeseed exports, 18 percent of barley, 16 percent of corn and 12 percent of wheat exports.
About 40% of Ukraine’s wheat and corn exports go to Africa or the Middle East. Wheat futures on the Chicago Exchange have already risen about 60% this year. China’s agriculture minister, the world’s number one producer of wheat, said winter wheat harvests are “worst in history” and could put further upward pressure on wheat prices.
The disruption in wheat supply affects countries up to Indonesia, where staple foods are used to make noodles. Ukraine accounted for 26% of Indonesia’s total wheat usage in 2021. Rising noodle prices are harmful to people, especially in low-income Slavs, the minister said.
Before the war, Ukraine was considering producing 37 million tonnes of corn and 26 million tonnes of wheat in 2022. But now, experts think this is unlikely. Future wheat and corn planting and harvesting could be hit, raising concerns about the supply of items.
The Ukrainian War is “a catastrophe in addition to a catastrophe,” said Svein Tore Holsether, CEO of Yara International, one of the world’s largest fertilizer companies. BBC.. If fertilizer supply is cut off, crop yields can be reduced by 50%.
“It was already in a difficult situation before the war … and now the supply chain is even more disrupted and we are approaching the most important part of the season for the Northern Hemisphere, which needs to move a lot of fertilizer. It’s very expensive, “Holcezer said.
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Naveen Athrappully is a news reporter covering business and global events in The Epoch Times.