Wheat Flour

Figure 12: Flour imports (thousand tons)
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009
Source: Institute of the Agrarian Market Conjuncture based on IAOM data
The list of flour-importing countries has not changed much in recent years
and includes countries with either limited wheat production (Brazil, Libya,
Bolivia and Indonesia, and the region of Hong Kong) or continuing substantial
population increase and absence of domestic grain processing infrastructure
(Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, etc.).
5.2 Wheat flour prices
Wheat millers in countries with well-developed futures trade can hedge their
price risks through the simultaneous buy and sell of wheat futures contracts.
However, access to futures markets is often limited in the transition countries
and millers tend to limit wheat and flour trade to the spot market. Spot prices
of wheat flour and wheat milling products tend to closely correlate with wheat
grain prices. The example in Figure 13 illustrates the correlation of Ex-Works
(EXW) wheat flour prices in Ukraine in 2005–2009.
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