Italy expects a rise in pasta prices due to a shortage of wheat

The fall in durum wheat production promises to hike prices for Italian pasta. The largest pasta manufacturers reported that there was no such shortage in the entire history of their work.

In a comment to the agency, the CEO of one of the largest Italian pasta producers La Molisana, Giuseppe Ferro, said that their family business has not faced such a situation in 110 years of its existence.

The shortage of wheat is already affecting the cost of production, and as a result, retail prices go up. Now large pasta producers are in a hurry to fill their warehouses with grain, since its shelf life is up to two years. But there is also a nuance here: wheat semolina, which is necessary for the production of Italian pasta, is stored for a maximum of a month.

Particularly affected was the wheat crop in Canada, which is considered the largest supplier in the world. In this country, the harvest was hit by summer drought and heat, as a result, grain shipments from grain elevators at port terminals in Western Canada fell 41% in the third week of August compared to the same period last year.