BarcelonaUkraine is known as the barn of Europe. Last year alone, the country led by Volodymyr Zelensky produced 86 million tons of grain and is one of the world’s leading exporters of grain. The data is compelling: it is the fourth country that sells the most corn (16%) and wheat (12%) abroad worldwide and the number one in the sale of sunflower oil, with a 50 %. If we add Russia to the latter product, they both account for 80% of the world’s exports of this food.
And even more data: 41.3% of the corn that Spain receives is of Ukrainian origin (up to 55% in the European Union) and the same goes for 10% of wheat.
Given these figures, it is clear that the ban on exports made official this Wednesday by Zelenski’s country of some cereals (rye, barley, buckwheat, millet), as well as sugar, salt and meat fins a finals d’aquest any, impactarà encara més sobre moltes empreses agroalimentàries tant catalanes com espanyoles que ja estan patint pel seu futur. But not only has Ukraine banned the export of some food, but also on Wednesday the Russian government announced that it will follow the same steps in both products and raw materials, although it has not specified which ones (it will do so in the coming hours). Putin’s executive, however, is doing so in response to Tuesday’s veto of Russian gas and oil by US President Joe Biden.
One of the most important companies in the state agri-food sector tells ARA that it has stock of cereals until October and that the only way to get them is to buy them in South American countries such as Argentina. However, this shortage will be even worse next year, because Ukraine plants its cereals mainly between March and May, and as it will obviously not be able to do so this year, in 2023 it will have no product to export.
How will this lack of food affect the consumer?
The president of the Gremi d’Oliaires de Catalunya, Ramon Millàs, explained this weekend to this newspaper that the lack of oil can cause breakdowns in some foods. A statement that also corroborates the head of the Agricultural Sectors of the Farmers’ Union, Miquel Piñol, with cereals. “Farms have feed reserves for five weeks; without them they will be unviable, because the price of livestock feed will end up being more expensive than the price at which the meat is sold,” he said. Translated means that the shelves of supermarkets can see the presence of all kinds of meat reduced to minced meat: from pork and beef to chicken, and also, of course, processed meat, as is the case with sausage. In addition, the price of pork sold will skyrocket. “We have to rethink the food we eat,” warns Piñol.
The increase in the price of cereals will also affect, he adds, the price of products such as flour and, in return, a staple food such as bread.
Sources at Moncloa said on Wednesday that they were already working on a national and European scale to ensure the supply of cereals. “Within the framework of the CAP we are coordinating to be able to increase production in Spain and import more and more quickly,” specify these sources. One of the solutions proposed by the central executive is to buy them precisely in South America and the United States, but Piñol warns that they will be of lower quality because their cereals have “traces of herbicide”.
As for vegetable oil, in some supermarkets the price has already skyrocketed and even the number of bottles that can be purchased is limited. “Just over a week ago, I might buy a 25-liter bottle of sunflower oil for 25 euros, and this Wednesday I paid 50 euros, twice as much in just one week,” he explains. a restaurateur from Lleida, who admits that the sector will have to pass on part of this increase to the consumer.
The lack of vegetable oil affects much of the food industry, but also the automotive industry. Among the many companies that depend on this product are canning companies, some of which are already starting to suffer from a lack of stock, or those that make chocolates, such as cocoa creams.
