Russia dominates world grain export market
Inquirer.net PARIS, France -Russia dominates the grain export market, with only a dozen nations supplying the world market with the key commodity to produce the most basic of staples for much of the world: bread.
Temperate climate
From the temperate climates in Mesopotamia where it was first cultivated thousands of years ago, wheat has become an essential part of the diet of most of humanity.
“Wheat, everyone in the world eats it, but not everyone can grow it,” French economist Bruno Parmentier, author of the book “Feeding Humanity”, said last year.
That fact, along with swings in production levels due to natural or man-made factors, has sometimes put wheat at the center of conflicts.
The International Grain Council (IGC), which brings together the major wheat producing and importing nations, expects global wheat production to reach 784 million tons in the 2023-2024 season — a drop of 2.4 percent from the previous season.
Only a dozen countries produce enough wheat to export.
China is by far the largest producer, producing 138 million tons in 2022-2023. But it still imports over 10 million tons per year to feed its population of 1.4 billion and maintain a large reserve.
