UK consumers are being warned to brace themselves for a rise in the price of bread, beer, pasta, biscuits and even pet food as war in Ukraine sends the wholesale price of wheat soaring.
Wholesale prices of everything from oil to metals have spiked since Russia invaded Ukraine, disrupting commodity exports from the region. The price of wheat has risen almost 75% so far this year to reach the highest point since 2008.
Hemant Bansal, commodity solution lead at The Smart Cube, said: “Ukraine and Russia are top exporters of wheat, with Ukraine referred to as the ‘breadbasket of Europe’. The nations collectively account for roughly one-quarter of global wheat exports.”
Bansal expected the price of wheat to rise by up to 20%. He said: “Analysing the data from the past two decades for previous such conflicts, the price of wheat is expected to increase by anywhere between 12 and 20 per cent.”
That could translate into at least a 7% rise in the prices of consumer products such as “buns, muffins, loafs.”
Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Wealth…
