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Fears of new food crisis as prices soar
By Javier Blas, Commodities Editor
Published: November 17 2010 09:41 | Last updated: November 17 2010 18:18
The bill for global food imports will top $1,000bn this year for the second time ever, putting the world “dangerously close” to a new food crisis, the United Nations said...
By mid-2008, international food prices had skyrocketed to their highest level in 30 years. This, coupled with the global economic downturn, pushed millions more people into poverty and hunger.
In December 2010, the FAO food price index had risen above its 2008 peak, and in January 2011, it had increased by 3.4 percent. Food prices will likely remain volatile. Efforts need to be scaled up at all levels to strengthen the resilience of small farmers to future shocks and to improve food and nutrition security over the long term [more].
?Statistics?: Rising meat prices in December increased by 28.7%, sugar 16.3%
Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, increase the rate of inflation during the month of December last year, reaching 10.3%, compared to 10.2% during the month of November the former.
He attributed the device in a statement Monday, the high rate of inflation to increase prices of many goods and services, in the forefront of food and drink, which rose to 16% in the total governorates of Egypt.
He pointed out that the increase in the prices of meat and poultry amounted to about 28.7%, cereals 21.5%, bread, sugar and sugary foods 16.3%, vegetables 11%, milk, cheese, eggs, fruit 8.8% and 4.9%.
He pointed out that the price increases also included the departments of education, and smoke, restaurants, hotels, special item ready meals.
For his part, Dr Samir Radwan, Advisor to the General Authority for Investment and a member of the People's Assembly, that an increase in food prices is the main engine to increase the rate of inflation, pointing out that the provision of food and drink consumed the bulk of the budget of families.
Radwan and predicted in a statement ?Egyptian today?, a new wave of high food prices worldwide, including oil, margarine and sugar, which leads to increase the rate of inflation locally, adding to the adoption of a large part of domestic consumption on imports.
On the possibility of the central bank to increase interest rates in the face of rising inflation, "Radwan said? It is difficult to predict this trend now ?, pointing out that the Central Bank's determination to maintain the fixed interest rates over the past months was the lack of justification for the increase.
He called for tightening the control mechanisms of markets in the coming period, and the expansion of agricultural production.
The Organization of the United Nations Food Organization (FAO) has indicated in a report last week, recording the prices of food to a record level last December, exceeding the 2008 levels, which saw the outbreak of riots in several countries.
In a related development, confirmed Magda Kandil, Executive Director of the Egyptian Centre for Policy Studies, that the rate of inflation prevailing in Egypt, one of the highest rates among Egypt's trade partners, which negatively affects the competitiveness of exports and domestic production in the foreign market.
Feb. 9, 2011, 9:56 p.m. EST
Corn Pops as USDA Sees Drop in Supply
By Scott Kilman And Ian Berry
The outlook for global grain supplies and food prices grew more precarious Wednesday as the U.S. Agriculture Department said it expects U.S. corn supplies to fall to the near-record low level set 15 years ago.
Red-hot prices aren't cooling the appetite for U.S. grain as in the past, which means U.S. supplies are continuing to be drained at a rapid rate to make ethanol fuel, fatten livestock and meet demand overseas.
"We're just not seeing prices ration demand," said Luke Chandler, head of agricultural commodity markets research at Rabobank. "The markets have changed in a structural way due to ethanol. ... Any relief will take considerable time."
According to USDA projections released Wednesday, the 12.4 billion bushels of corn harvested by U.S. farmers last fall will dwindle to just 675 million bushels by Aug. 31, when a new harvest begins to replenish inventories...
Ive mainly been focusing on the weather and climate related aspects of the food price situation. Certainly biofuel production and speculation will play into things. Here are some more stories:
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/feb/07/crop-shortages-political-instability" target="_blank" onclick="if(!checkUrl(this.href)) return false;" rel="nofollow" >
<strong>
Failure to act on crop shortages fuelling political instability, experts warn</strong></a>
Food prices have hit record levels in recent weeks, according to the United Nations, and soaring prices for staples such as grains over the past few months are thought to have been one of the factors contributing to an explosive mix of popular unrest in Egypt and Tunisia.
<a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2011-02/07/c_13721576_2.htm" onclick="if(!checkUrl(this.href)) return false;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" ><strong>Henan's drought control authorities warn of further prolonged drought</strong></a>
<a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-02/08/c_13722789.htm" target="_blank" onclick="if(!checkUrl(this.href)) return false;" rel="nofollow" ><strong>East China wheat basket braces for worst drought in 200 years+</strong>
</a>JINAN, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- East China's Shandong Province, one of the country's major grain producers, is bracing for its worst drought in 200 years.
<a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2011/02/01/when-russia-will-resume-grain-exports/" target="_blank" onclick="if(!checkUrl(this.href)) return false;" rel="nofollow" >When Will Russia Resume Grain Exports Again?</a>.
Russia stopped grain exports last summer after the worst drought to hit the country in over a century ravaged the countrys harvest and <strong>cut production by nearly 40%.</strong> The ban sent shockwaves through international markets and propelled wheat prices to highs not seen since the 2007-08 food crisis.
<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/08/srilanka-floods-rice-idUSSGE71704Q20110208" target="_blank" onclick="if(!checkUrl(this.href)) return false;" rel="nofollow" ><strong>UPDATE 2-S.Lanka says at least 35 pct of rice crop destroyed</strong></a>
Two rounds of flooding in Sri Lanka since January have destroyed at least 35 percent of the staple rice crop, the Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday, raising the risk of food price inflation.
"A huge area of <strong>the cane crop was completely flattened by the cyclone and they were already suffering a fair bit of impact from the torrential wet season,</strong>" said Dan Galligan, chief executive of Queensland Farmer's Federation, who estimated more than 500 million Australian dollars (US$507.1 million) of cane could be lost.
I didnt even see the story on laidback's link to the main FAO page. I knew south Africa suffered crop losses this year but evidentially so are other African nations:
In Lesotho, for example, one of the poorest countries in the sub-region, an FAO assessment team found that in some of the flooded areas up to 60 percent of harvests have been lost and over 4 700 livestock, mainly sheep and goats are dead.
"There is not one crop you can point to that is without supply problems," said Steve Nicholson, a commodity procurement specialist for International Food Products Corp. in St. Louis. "Production is not keeping up with demand, exacerbating the global food crisis."
Prices on 24-count iceberg cartons from Yuma were $21.56-23.00 on Feb. 7, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Just a week before they went for $12.50-13.55. Year-ago prices were about $6.
<a href="http://thepacker.com/UPDATED--Severe-Mexican-vegetable-shortages-expected-into-March/Article.aspx?oid=1306738&fid=PACKER-TOP-STORIES&aid=684" target="_blank" onclick="if(!checkUrl(this.href)) return false;" rel="nofollow" >UPDATED: Severe Mexican vegetable shortages expected into March</a>
On Feb. 8, the U.S. <strong>Department of Agriculture reported prices of $22.95-24.95</strong> for two-layer cartons of 4x4, 5x5 and 5x6 vine-ripe field-grown tomatoes from Mexico,<strong> up from $6.95-9.95 the week before and $5.95-7.95 the year before. </strong>
As farmers begin getting ready to plant spring crops, they face flood forecasts in parts of the Midwest. Last week the National Weather Service warned of increased risk of ?moderate to major? floods along the upper Mississippi River.
Bolivian president Evo Morales has abruptly left the southern highlands city of Oruro after protesters angered by rising prices booed him and set off dynamite.
"The new figures clearly show that the upward pressure on world food prices is not abating," said FAO economist Abdolreza Abbassian. "These high prices are likely to persist in the months to come. High food prices are of major concern especially for low-income food deficit countries that may face problems in financing food imports and for poor households which spend a large share of their income on food."
U.S. reserves of corn have hit their lowest level in more than 15 years, reflecting tighter supplies that will lead to higher food prices in 2011. Increasing demand for corn from the ethanol industry is a major reason for the decline.
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