The alarm on the wheat prices is growing, especially durum wheat for the production of pasta, which has risen exponentially in recent months.
There is turmoil in the world of wheat processing: the price per ton has risen sharply, exceeding the price that about 10 years ago triggered bread riots in many countries around the world, starting what we know as the Arab Spring. Consequently, semolina for the production of pasta is scarce, and the price of bread has increased tenfold. But what is going on?
July and August 2021: the first surge
The first surge in national durum wheat prices took place between July and August: prices were close to € 500/t, or + 60% compared to 2020, almost reaching the record levels that occurred in the first months of 2008. The The first to sound the alarm was Giuseppe Ferro, CEO of La Molisana: «We are witnessing a scenario that has never occurred before: 3 million tons of durum wheat are missing in the world. For the first time in history there is such a lack of raw material». But what happened? What happened is that Canada, the world’s largest producer and exporter of durum wheat, and the United States were hit hard by the summer drought, losing over three million tons of crops. According to Ferro, this situation has generated a significant increase in the prices of durum wheat, therefore of semolina, and therefore of pasta. The problem, according to the CEO, will hit the shelves and will only get worse. (1)
October 2021: wheat on the rise
The gallop of national durum wheat prices continues, reaching the historical peak of 540 € / t on the Foggia market, or + 80% compared to the beginning of July, + 100% compared to the average price of 2020 and + 135% approximately compared to the average prices of the five-year period 2016/2020. The prices of imported wheat rise even more and exceed € 600/t. Vincenzo Martinelli, president of the durum wheat mills section of Italmopa, confirms that the rise in prices, as well as the consequent national and international tensions, is due to the production collapses recorded in Canada and the United States. (2)
November 2021: the incidence of raw material costs
On the Chicago Stock Exchange, for the first time since 2012, prices exceeded $ 8/bushel (4). In Paris, the prices of soft ground wheat, used to make bread, jumped to unprecedented levels: € 297/t. National durum wheat exceeds 550 euros and there is a shortage of semolina for pasta. Prices have been rising for 5 consecutive months. In addition to the adverse climate that has ruined the crops, there are also the production and processing costs: the cost of fertilizers, the cost of diesel for tractors, the cost of energy. (3)
Hydra for cereals: the solution
With Hydra you reduce purchase costs by increasing the yield to the maximum, perfectly hulling the wheat grain.
Wheat, to be transformed into semolina, must be stripped of the bran through the husking process. Hydra is a device designed to regulate hulling machines in real time with the aim of avoiding throwing semolina into the waste, effectively maximizing production at this very moment when wheat has reached very high costs. Hydra can also be used for the transformation of soft wheat, by installing it on rolling mills, and it can be installed in such a way that it analyzes the characteristics of semolina or flour.
Furthermore, Hydra is an Industry 4.0 investment, therefore, in Italy it is possible to take advantage of the tax concessions reconfirmed in the National Transition Plan 4.0 promoted by the Mise.
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References:
(1) La Stampa
(2) ANSA
(3) Il Sole 24 ore
(4) bushel is the measure of capacity for dry and liquid used in the United Kingdom and for dry only in the USA and Canada, corresponding to approximately 35,239 liters.