India open to exporting wheat to needy nations despite ban

FILE- An Indian farmer carries wheat crop harvested from a field on the outskirts of Jammu, India, April 28, 2022. India on Sunday said it has kept a window open for food-deficit countries to import wheat from the country at the government level despite restrictions on export announced two days ago. (AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)

NEW DELHI (AP) — India on Sunday said it would keep a window open to export wheat to food-deficit countries at the government level despite restrictions announced two days earlier.

India’s Commerce Secretary B.V.R. Subrahmanyam told reporters the government will also allow private companies to meet previous commitments to export nearly 4.3 million tons of wheat until July. India exported 1 million tons of wheat in April.

India mainly exports wheat to neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

A notice in the government gazette by the Directorate of Foreign Trade on Friday said a spike in global prices for wheat was threatening the food security of India and neighboring and vulnerable countries.

A key aim of restrictions on exports is to control rising domestic prices. Global wheat prices have risen by more than 40% since the beginning of the year.

Before the war, Ukraine and Russia accounted for a third of global wheat and barley exports. Since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, Ukraine’s ports have been blocked and civilian infrastructure and grain silos have been destroyed.

At the same time, India’s own wheat harvest has suffered from a record-shattering heat wave that is stunting production.

He said India's wheat production this year has come down by three million tons from 106 million tons last year. Wheat prices have shot up by 20-40% in India.

"The current rise in prices seems to be a panic reaction rather than a reaction based on a genuine collapse in supply or a sudden shooting of demand," Subrahmanyam said.

Even though it is the world’s second-largest producer of wheat, India consumes most of the wheat it produces. It had set a goal of exporting 10 million tons of the grain in 2022-23, looking to capitalize on the global disruptions to wheat supplies from the war and find new markets for its wheat in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Up to 90 million tons of wheat were consumed in India last year out of a total production of 109 million tons, Subrahmanyam said, adding that India exported 7 million tons of wheat last year.

The United States may not officially be on a war footing. But since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration is pledging $350 million in military aid. And we're not the only ones. Our NATO allies are also making commitments to help Ukraine in its defense. And those commitments, along with that of the United States is likely to increase if the conflict escalates.  

That means this is the time for opportunistic investors to pounce on defense stocks. These are stocks that support the military industrial complex in the United States. Even in peace time, the defense department commands a significant portion of the federal government's budget. So it's logical to presume that more money will be spent to assist in our defense as well as the defense of other countries.

This is an example of investing in the world that exists rather than the world you may want. These seven companies stand to see a sizable increase in revenue. This is likely to spill over into earnings which in turn will lead to a higher stock price over time.

Here are seven defense stocks that you should be considering right now.