Browse Data and Analysis

On May 24, 2022, India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry/Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued notification No. 10/2015-20, amending its sugar export policy. The notification specifies that exports of raw, refined, and white sugar fall under the “restricted” category.

On May 24, 2022, India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry/Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued Public Notice No. 10/2015-20 (May 24, 2022) (see, Appendix I). The public notice specifies that India is allocating a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) of 2 million metric tons (MMT) for crude soybean oil and a similar TRQ of 2 MMT for crude sunflower oil in India fiscal year (IFY) 2022/23 and in IFY 2023/24. The Indian government’s measure is meant to address the high domestic prices of edible oils, and to check rising food inflation.

Heat stress resulting from an unprecedented spike in temperatures beginning in the mid-March 2022 has had a marked impact India’s wheat crop. Yields are 10-15 percent down, driving India’s forecasted market year (MY) 2022/23 (April-March) wheat production down from 110 million metric tons (MMT) to 99 MMT.

To stem the burgeoning current account deficit and declining foreign exchange reserves, on May 19, 2022, Pakistan banned imports of many categories of agricultural products.

On May 2, 2022, the Ministry of Consumer, Food and Public Distribution, through the Directorate General of Foreign Trade announced approval for the importation of an additional 550,000 metric tons (MT) of soybean meal (including GE derived).

Bangladesh consumes approximately 6 million metric tons of chemical fertilizers annually, of which about 80 percent are imported. The four major imported chemical fertilizers in Bangladesh are urea, triple super phosphate, diammonium phosphate, and muriate of potash (MOP). Russia and Belarus were the dominant suppliers of MOP in Bangladesh.

On Friday, May 13, 2022, the Indian government announced a ban on wheat exports, effective immediately, citing the sudden spike in global wheat prices and the resulting food security risks to India.

On Thursday May 12, the Government of Brazil (GOB) cut import tariffs for several categories of goods, focusing on food staples in an attempt to reduce consumer inflation. Import tariffs on beef, chicken, corn, wheat flour, wheat, cookies and bakery products were eliminated through the end of the year.

India notified its draft Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import into India) (Second Amendment) Order (2022), to the Sanitary-Phytosanitary (SPS) Committee of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and is inviting comments.

Post forecasts production at 14.85 million metric tons in 2022, growing two percent due to strong external demand. Production is forecast to set historical record. Consumption for 2022 is forecast at 10.25 million metric tons, slightly reduced from 2021.

For 2022/23, Post forecasts cotton planted area to shrink 3 percent compared to the current season, to 1.55 million hectares. The Post forecast for 2022/23 cotton production is 12.6 million bales, or 2.74 million metric tons (MMT), down from 13 million bales (2.83 MMT) in 2020/21.

On December 30, 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture finalized its 2021-2030 agricultural development policy document (“concept note”) describing the agriculture sector, market development plans, international trade outlook, government support programs, and expected results of implementing agricultural policies.