India to Allow Export of Wheat Consignments Registered Before May 13

A worker seals sacks filled with wheat in Gurdaspur, India, on April 30, 2014. (Channi Anand, File/AP Photo)

India has granted “some relaxation” to its decree banning wheat exports following reports that thousands of wheat-laden trucks were stuck at ports since the ban went into force on May 13.

“It has been decided that wherever wheat consignments have been handed over to Customs for examination and have been registered into their systems on or prior to 13.5.2022, such consignments would be allowed to be exported,” the Commerce Ministry said on Tuesday.

India will also release the full 61,500-tonne wheat consignment bound for Egypt, following the Egyptian government’s request to load the wheat cargo at the Kandla port. About 44,340 of the wheat shipment had been loaded.

More than 4,000 trucks carrying wheat shipments were stuck in a line outside Kandla port after the government banned wheat exports on May 13 to ensure food security and control inflation, The Indian Express reported.

Some dealers claimed that India’s wheat export ban trapped 1.8 million tonnes of grain at ports, leaving traders facing heavy losses from the prospect of selling onto a weaker domestic market.

One Mumbai-based trader told Reuters that the export ban could force it to declare force majeure on shipments to overseas customers.

“We bought wheat from traders and moved it to ports,” the trader said. “Our intention is to fulfill export commitments, but we can’t overrule government policy. Therefore, we don’t have any option but to declare force majeure.”

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield has called on India to reconsider its decision to ban wheat exports, fearing that it may exacerbate food shortages, with no end in sight to the Russia–Ukraine war.

“We have seen the report of India’s decision. We’re encouraging countries not to restrict exports because we think any restriction on exports will exacerbate the food shortages,” Thomas-Greenfield said at a press briefing on May 16.

“India will be one of the countries participating in our meeting at the Security Council, and we hope that they can, as they hear the concerns being raised by other countries, that they would reconsider that position,” she added.

India, the world’s second-largest wheat producer, had earlier stated that it was prepared to fill the food supply gap caused by the Russia–Ukraine war, but a scorching heatwave curtailed output and sent domestic prices to a record high.

The government stated that its export ban would not apply in cases where private trade has made prior commitments through letters of credit and in situations where permission was granted at the request of other countries “to meet their food security needs.”

Reuters contributed to this report.