Are these higher rural prices primarily driven by food prices?
I remember reading about how the war in Ukraine was driving up canola prices.
Yes actually, food prices are shooting up here. But not due to Canola. Indians use mustard oil primarily. The secondary is soyabean.
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Hmm, the canola shortage still might be the culprit since globally it's a substitute for the others.
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I agree globally it's a substitute. For India, food inflation has been taking a toll on the economy since 2023, with a number of categories witnessing significant inflation. This includes veggies at +28 per cent YoY, pulses at +17 per cent YoY, cereals at +8.6 per cent YoY, meat and fish at +8.2 per cent YoY, spices at +7.8 per cent YoY and eggs at +7.1 per cent YoY.
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Is any of that fallout from Sri Lanka's disastrous agriculture policies?
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Yes there are a few but they are limited to coffee and a few spices. Nothing much.
It was wheat price that spiked to skies suddenly last year and if I tell you, you won't believe that it went up +50% in a month or two.
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That doesn't really surprise me. Ukraine is one of the largest wheat producers in the world.
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That's not because of Ukraine. India doesn't need to import wheat. It was due to those who hoarded wheat for profiteering.
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Prices are global. You don't need to be importers to be impacted. With Ukraine's supply curtailed, the rest of the world is bidding up wheat prices wherever they can find it.
Don't fall for scapegoating "profiteering" narratives. These are statist inventions meant to pit the public against each other.