Bahrain has stressed its keenness to ensure sustainable supplies of basic commodities in the light of current developments unfolding in the world.
The kingdom has sufficient stocks of basic commodities to cover its needs, Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed Alzayani said yesterday.
His statement came amid rising corn, soybean and wheat prices in the world on worries over global supplies due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Mr Alzayani noted the directives of His Royal Higness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to continue securing strategic food stocks under all circumstances.
He said that the current Russian-Ukrainian crisis will not affect food imports in Bahrain. The kingdom imports wheat from other countries as well, he said. Both Russia and Ukraine are among the top five exporters of wheat.
The minister also stressed Bahrain’s drive to diversify sources of imports to protect food security.
Imports are being stepped up and new shipments will arrive soon, he said.
He stressed the ministry’s keenness to communicate with suppliers and traders over sustainability of the flow of necessary commodities.
“According to global indicators, Bahrain has achieved sustainable food security, as a result of joint efforts by various ministries and authorities,” said Mr Alzayani.
The minister said inspections will also be stepped up to prevent tampering with prices and warned that violators will face legal action.
Reacting to the surging prices in futures market which yesterday edged slightly down from a record high, Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said: “The world does have a very real problem with wheat supply right now. To be clear, that does not mean the world is literally running out of wheat. Instead, the problem that the market must source wheat from less and less accessible, and so more expensive sources.”
The top exporters of wheat are currently Russia ($8.14 billion), US ($6.94bn), Canada ($5.97bn), France ($4.54bn) and Ukraine ($3.11bn) and the five largest grain importing countries are Egypt ($2.7bn), Indonesia ($2.6bn), Turkey ($2.33bn), China ($2.26bn) and Nigeria ($2.06bn).
&uuid=(email))