War worry as flour prices hiked again
Published:Wednesday | March 30, 2022 | 12:14 AM
Jamaicans have been warned that they will continue to feel the wrath of price increases in flour-based products should the Russia-Ukraine war not ease before reaping season this summer.
That dour news has come from Derrick Nembhard, managing director of Jamaica Flour Mills, in the wake of another hike in flour prices which took effect here on Monday.
In recent months, local consumers have had to pay more for many basic commodities, whose prices have risen because of global supply-chain woes, which have worsened since the month-long military conflict in Ukraine.
Among the spin-off concerns is a rise in wheat and grain prices.
“A lot of it depends on the geopolitical climate we find ourselves in, if the war continues in Ukraine,” Nembhard said of price volatility in a Gleaner interview on Tuesday.
He said overseas suppliers of wheat and grain would normally export in July and August and replant in September and October. But the war will affect those timelines if the conflict drags on longer.
The Kremlin has indicated that it is scaling back on its invasion to focus on the Donbass region in Ukraine's east but pundits are cautious about those overtures.
“Right now, as we approach June [and] July, they should be harvesting. If the war continues and they are not able to harvest, then that quantity will be lost to the world,” said Nembhard.
“If it prolongs even further, they'll miss their export window. If it prolongs even further, they'll miss their replanting, which will have repercussions for the entire year until the replanting season comes around again, so it's hard to say what will happen.”
He is hopeful that the war will end soon so that suppliers will catch their harvest and kick-start exports, which would cause the price “to come tumbling down”.
Jamaica Flour Mills has been hit by multiple price increases for wheat and grain in 2021 alone, as well as freight charge hikes.