ESOKO, an organization that conducts weekly research on local food prices, has hinted that the price of wheat has increased significantly on the international market in the last two months (almost doubling at some point) but remains stable in Ghana.

It said that the price per kilo of the commodity dropped from GH¢1.80 and GH¢2.05 to GH¢1.82 and GH¢2.10 in wholesale and retail trading respectively at the Kumasi Central market.

“In most of the other Esoko monitored markets, the price of the commodity remained unchanged from the previous week’s closing figure.

Market watchers have also indicated that there is nothing to suggest that market traders are worried over any future price movements, meaning that it should remain stable,” the report indicated.
On the international scene, the organization stated that there appears to be a two-month upward surge in the commodity’s price which has forced a Managing Director of the World Bank to issue a “price warning”.

“Prices almost doubled in this period due to a drought and heat wave in the Black Sea region, (declared to be over in Russia last week). It is estimated that the drought may have destroyed a quarter of the grain crop in the region and in fact led to a ban on exports.”

In line with Esoko’s market assessment last week which hinted that the global price increases were not enough to trigger any major effect on the world demand and supply of the commodity, an economist at the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (UN-FAO) has also stressed that the increase in the price of wheat price globally is not sufficient to trigger global food inflation.

FAO economist and cereals analyst Abdolreza Abbassian, in an interview with Reuters, indicated that he expects wheat prices to remain high and volatile in the coming months, adding that these do not pose a threat to the global economy.
In the broader market price and activity assessment, Esoko reports that the prices of commodities have remained fairly stable over the past few weeks. The price of tomatoes, which had registered significant price increases some few weeks ago, seems to have reduced significantly continuing the drop in the week to August 20.

At the Techiman market, wholesale and retail prices of tomatoes decreased from GH¢0.42 and GH¢0.59 respectively to GH¢0.37 and GH¢0.0.40, representing a 12 and 32 percent drop on the closing price for the previous week.

“The Esoko Ghana Commodity Index- Retail (EGCI-R) closed the week at 4118.86 with the Esoko Ghana Commodity Index- Wholesale (EGCI-W) closing the week at 1962.22,” the report comments.

Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana