Pasta Prices on the Rise

by Mindy Cohn

The drought in Canada and poor weather in Europe have damaged crops of durum wheat, reducing supplies and raising prices as production reached a 22-year low, raising the cost in July of semolina flour made from durum wheat by 24%.

Retail pasta prices have gone up by 8% in the United States while rice has shot up as well as reported by Rockland Daily here.

Short-term supply relief has come from Turkey and Russia. However, neither country's shipment has helped the U.S.  Russia shipped over 100,000 tons to the European Union since July, and Turkey shipped 300,000 metric tons to Italy. 

On the other hand, Barilla, which processes local durum for several countries, including the U.S., claims that it currently sees no critical supply issues, according to Reuters.