News

May 06, 2008

Market Roundup: The Squeeze On Rice Continues, Soybeans And Cocoa Heat Up, But Most Commodities End The Week Weaker

By Sally White

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has warned that soaring global food prices may damage growth in some Asian economies this year and next year. The ADB notes that over the past year wheat export prices have increased by 130 per cent, rice prices by 98 per cent and maize by 38 per cent, and that these increases are hurting the purchasing power of a billion poor people in the region.

"In the long term, prices could continue to rise... the era of cheap food prices may be over," said Haruhiko Kuroda, president of the ADB. "Several countries appear to be severely affected," he told reporters ahead of the multilateral development institution's annual meeting being held in Madrid this year.
 
The ADB says that adverse weather patterns are only partially to blame, and that food hoarding by individuals and public food agencies are the major causes. At least a dozen...