Export ban

An export ban is a government order that stops some or all shipments of a commodity out of the country, usually to protect domestic supply or curb domestic prices.

Export bans appear most often in food staples, when a government worried about domestic prices or shortages decides to keep the harvest at home rather than let it be sold abroad at a higher world price. Rice, wheat, and edible oils have all seen bans or restrictions imposed by major exporting countries during periods of tight supply or high domestic inflation.

A ban by one large exporter can move world prices sharply, because it removes supply that importing countries were counting on and pushes them to compete for what other origins have left. Past food price spikes have featured waves of export restrictions that amplified the price moves they were meant to guard against, since each country’s ban made every other importing country’s position a little more urgent. See why commodity prices spike.