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Global food supply concerns looming as war in Ukraine
A livestock economist says after Russia’s invasion into Ukraine the global food supply is under a microscope.
Rupert Claxton with Gira, an international research firm, says global commodity supplies were already tight and exports of corn, wheat, barley and sunflower oil could be impacted. “We are not going to lose Russian exports to the world markets as a result of this. But they are going to flow to different places. There are some countries just can’t afford not to buy from Russia. If I talk to a trader in Egypt, they have to buy affordable grain to keep people fed. It’s not about geopolitics it’s just about food.”
He says there have been other fallouts from the war, too. “The other thing we’re seeing is some countries putting export bans on. Hungary is already discussing not exporting to the rest of Europe. Ireland is encouraging domestic planting to increase domestic grain production.”
Claxton says feed prices were already going up before the invasion and the conflict pushed prices higher.
He made his comments on a National Pork Board webinar.
