Commodity Profile: Wheat
In the first of a new series explaining how key agricultural commodities are affected by and contribute to climate change, Carbon Brief looks at wheat – how and where it is grown, where it is traded and consumed – with a special focus on Ukraine and India.
Wheat is one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world. It is “unrivalled in its range of cultivation” thanks to the diversity of its variants and the degree to which it has become central to human culture. In 2021-22, the world produced 777m tonnes of wheat and consumed almost as much.
Whether by value or weight, wheat accounts for more than 40% of the global cereals trade.
Wheat is principally grown and consumed domestically, but significant quantities are also traded internationally. The largest exporters are Russia, Canada, the US, France and Ukraine. Its biggest importers include Egypt, China, Turkey, Indonesia and Turkey, with Pakistan and China emerging as the fastest-growing markets.
Climate extremes, such as floods, droughts and heatwaves, already strongly affect the world’s wheat crop. In India, for example, a blistering heatwave in early 2022 shrivelled swathes of harvest-ready wheat crops, hindering the country’s ability to raise exports in light of the war in Ukraine.
And research shows that the continued rise of global temperatures could reduce yields around the world.
As wheat prices spike and fall and the world faces “an unprecedented hunger crisis”, Carbon Brief takes a look at the prospects for growing wheat in a warming world.