“Big agriculture is having a field day,” says The Economist. Food prices are soaring amid “transport logjams and paltry harvests”. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation’s price index hit its highest level since 2011 in May. Soybean prices have risen by 56% in 12 months; corn is up by 68%.
When lockdowns were first imposed there was concern that global supply chains would buckle and prices would spiral, says Florian Zandt on weforum.org. In the event, prices slumped. Lower oil prices reduced demand for biodiesel, an alternative use for some crops. Yet prices began to rally last summer and have since soared to multi-year highs. Despite a pullback in June, average global food prices are “still 25% more expensive than the 2014-2016 average”.
Reopening restaurants have shifted demand back towards “meat, fish and dairy”, says The Economist. As Alain Goubau, an Ontario farmer, puts it: “A year ago we were trying to get rid of milk… Now we are adding as many cows as we can.” That in turn drives up crop prices because livestock need to eat: it takes more grain to produce an animal calorie than to produce a calorie of bread.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Soaring food prices are bad news for the world’s poor. Covid-19 has “dramatically increased the number of people affected by chronic hunger”, writes Elise Labott in Foreign Policy. That is fuelling protests from Haiti to South Africa. The post-pandemic world will be a “tinderbox”.
-
Warning to up to 3.5 million unmarried couples who risk losing their share of the homeThe number of properties owned jointly but unequally by unmarried couples has jumped, leaving millions more exposed to problems if they decide to split. Here’s how to protect your assets.
-
UK interest rates: is a surprise cut on the cards?The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee meets tomorrow (6 November) and while few analysts expect a cut, plateauing inflation and a weak economy could strengthen the case for an interest rate cut
-
The Stella Show is still on the road – can Stella Li keep it that way?Stella Li is the globe-trotting ambassador for Chinese electric-car company BYD, which has grown into a world leader. Can she keep the motor running?
-
LVMH is set to prosper as the wealthy start shopping againAfter two years of uncertainty, the outlook for LVMH is starting to improve. Is now a good time to add the luxury-goods purveyor to your portfolio?
-
Japan is still rising to new highs – here's how to investOpinion Political ructions in Japan are no obstacle to gains, and the return of inflation may even benefit stocks, says Max King. What is Japan doing right?
-
Investors need to get ready for an age of uncertainty and upheavalTectonic geopolitical and economic shifts are underway. Investors need to consider a range of tools when positioning portfolios to accommodate these changes
-
Investing in UK universities: how to spin research into profitsUK universities are a vital economic asset, but they are also Britain's 'equivalent of Gulf oil.' There are opportunities here for investors
-
Lessons from Nobel Prize winners in economics on how to nurture a culture of growthThe Nobel Prize in economics went to three thinkers who show us why economies grow and how we can help them do so. Governments would be wise to heed the lessons
-
'It’s time for Rachel Reeves to secure her legacy'Opinion Rachel Reeves has been a dreadful chancellor, and it's hard to see her remaining in office for another whole year. She could at least depart with some dignity
-
Yoshiaki Murakami: Japan’s original corporate raiderThe originator of Japanese activism, Yoshiaki Murakami, was disgraced by an insider-trading scandal in 2006. Now, he's back, shaking things up
