And in India, farmers and traders are now furious at having been deprived of a windfall, especially as prices in their home market have instead collapsed.
India is the world's second largest wheat producer, but the government - India's main buyer of wheat - has defended the ban, arguing that food security for its huge population must be ensured.
The move, along with shrinking global supplies from Russia and Ukraine, both among the world's top five wheat exporters, sent prices soaring to unprecedented levels in Chicago commodity markets. and from Europe.
But at Asia's largest grain market, in Khanna, India's breadbasket state of Punjab, prices went the other way.
Wheat prices at their highest after the Indian embargo Jonathan WALTER AFP
This market is made up of a dozen giant storage sheds, each the size of a football field.
Every year, thousands of farmers from this producing region go there to sell their harvest.
From 2,300 rupees (about 28 euros) for 100 kilos of wheat before the export ban, prices have fallen to 2,015 rupees - equivalent to the minimum price set by the government for the purchase of cereals for its vast public distribution system.
Hundreds of millions of Indian smallholder farmers live in extreme precariousness, subject to the vagaries of the weather.
In Punjab, many were already experiencing production losses due to the extreme heat wave that was becoming the norm.
Farmer Navtej Singh saved half of his 60-ton harvest to sell during the lean season when prices tend to rise.
He is appalled by the government's decision.
Now he is scrambling to sell the rest of his stock.
"This ban was a shock," he told AFP.
"The price has fallen to its lowest point and does not even cover our expenses".
Loading sacks of wheat onto a freight train on May 19, 2022 in Khanna, India Sajjad HUSSAIN AFP
The authorities did not consult anyone and acted in a "selfish" way, he is indignant.
"We were already hit with production losses this year and the ban has made life difficult for us."
"Feed the World"
Before the war in Ukraine and the heat wave, India's wheat production (109 million tonnes in 2021) and exports (7 million tonnes) were both expected to increase this year.
Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi even offered to help fill the global wheat deficit, saying he was ready to "feed the world".
Cranes load wheat on board a boat on May 18, 2022 in the port of Kandla, India Sam PANTHAKY AFP / Archives
But extreme weather conditions are becoming more frequent, a phenomenon due to climate change according to experts.
After being hit by the heat wave, producers in Punjab were unable to produce the expected amounts and the national harvest was four million tonnes lower than forecast.
At the same time, the authorities have reduced the quantities purchased for the vast public distribution system, which provides cereals at deeply reduced prices to some 800 million people, due to the end of the support schemes put in place during the pandemic.
Result: if for Indian traders the price of wheat has plummeted, for the small final consumer, the retail price of wheat flour is at its highest for 12 years.
This leads Manish Panji, head of the government's grain supply program from Punjab to Khanna, to defend the export ban.
Without this measure, he argues, the price of a quintal of wheat could have skyrocketed to 3,000 rupees.
But according to trader Raj Sood, the government should have taken a cautious approach instead of abruptly halting exports and wreaking havoc on the market.
"The market was already under stress from the crop crisis and, without thinking, the government decreed the ban," he criticizes.
Grains of wheat in Khanna, May 18, 2022 in India Sajjad HUSSAIN AFP / Archives
“There is no doubt that the main losses will be suffered by large exporters like Cargill, ITC and Glencore, but small traders and farmers will also be affected,” he adds.
And many Khanna businessmen argue that the measure will only have a temporary effect as the rules of supply and demand will inevitably take over.
© 2022 AFP