◀ anchor ▶
The places marked on the map now are Odessa, Kherson and Mariupol.
Port cities in southern Ukraine bordering the Black Sea.
Ukraine, the world’s largest wheat producer, has been exporting wheat through these ports.
Currently, export routes are blocked due to the Russian blockade.
This is one of the reasons for the global wheat supply crisis.
The price of wheat has risen by nearly 60% this year alone, and it is inevitable that it will become more expensive as time goes on.
Reporter Kim Hyeon-ji reported.
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The city of Odessa has been turned into a pile of cement with bridges collapsing and buildings collapsing.
Russia bombed the city and blocked export ports.
Wheat, whose export route to the sea is blocked, is seeking overland routes through Poland and Romania.
The road to the border is lined with trucks loaded with wheat.
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“The sea is blocked and there is no way out. We have to make our way through Romania.”
However, overland exports are limited.
Currently, 25 million tonnes of grain, including wheat, are tied up in Ukrainian ports.
Russia has also banned wheat exports to neighboring countries, and India, the world’s second-largest wheat producer, has banned all exports except for quantities authorized by the central government.
Exports of 1.8 million tonnes of Indian wheat have been blocked.
The rise in prices following the war-triggered wheat supply crisis, and securing wheat became the key to national food security.
Exports were barred like this, but this year, it even overlapped with a worldwide wheat famine.
India’s first heat wave in 121 years is expected to reduce wheat yields.
It is also the reason for the export ban.
At a national level, China, the world’s largest wheat producer, was flooded with water in the fall of last year, preventing wheat from growing properly.
France, Europe’s largest wheat exporter, is also predicted to have the worst harvest due to a dry climate, and a severe drought in the United States has also disrupted wheat production.
Higher growing and transportation costs, such as fertilizer and oil, are also exacerbating wheat prices.
Wheat prices have already risen by 60% compared to last year.
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“These countries (Southern Europe and Arab countries) will have to buy at a higher price with a much bigger supply shortage. These countries will suffer.”
In Korea, bread and ramen account for more than 10%. Noodles are almost 30% more expensive.
The impact of rising global wheat prices is expected to intensify toward the second half of the year.
This is Kim Hyun-ji from MBC News.
Video Editing: Jo Min-woo
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