Page 10 - Food Inflation

Global food prices in 2022 hit record high amid drought, Russia-Ukraine war

Global prices for food commodities like grain and vegetable oils were the highest on record last year even after falling for nine months in a row, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said, as Russia's war in Ukraine, drought and other factors drove up inflation and worsened hunger worldwide. The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly traded food commodities, dipped by 1.9% in December from a month earlier, the Rome-based organisation said Friday. For the whole year, it averaged 143.7 points, more than 14% above the 2021 average, which also saw large increases. The December decline was led by a drop in the price of vegetable oils amid shrinking import demand, expectations of increased soy oil production in South America and lower crude oil prices. Grain and meat were also down, while dairy and sugar rose slightly. Calmer food commodity prices are welcome after two very volatile years, FAO chief economist Maximo Torero said in

Retail inflation for industrial workers eases to 5.41% in November

Retail inflation for industrial workers eased to 5.41 per cent in November compared to 6.08 per cent in October this year mainly due lower prices of certain food items. "Year-on-year inflation for the month stood at 5.41 per cent compared to 6.08 per cent for the previous month (October 2022) and 4.84 per cent during the corresponding month (November 2021) a year before," a Labour Bureau statement said. Food inflation stood at 4.30 per cent in November 2022 against 6.52 per cent of the previous month (October 2022) and 3.40 per cent during the corresponding month (November 2021) a year ago. The All-India CPI-IW (Consumer Price Index-Industrial Workers for November, 2022 remained stationary at 132.5 points compared to October 2022. The maximum upward pressure in current index came from Miscellaneous group contributing 0.21 percentage points to the total change. At item level, wheat, wheat atta, buffalo milk, cow milk, dairy milk, eggs hen, sunflower oil, onion, chillies dry, cooked

Rice, wheat inflation continue to rise contrary to overall inflation

The retail inflation rate in wheat rose to 19.67 per cent in November from 17.64 per cent in October

Will rising fertiliser prices hamper India's inflation battle?

Retail inflation in India has finally come under the comfort zone of the RBI. But the relief may be short-lived, as high global fertilizer prices can affect India's food inflation in the long run

WPI inflation eases to 21-month low as pricing pressure softens in November

Fruits and vegetables, protein-rich items such as eggs, meat and fish drag down prices; Core inflation eases for seventh consecutive month to 3.5%

Controlling high food inflation: The world is on a wing and a prayer

An IMF paper sheds light on the issue of persistently high global food inflation, and the prognosis is not comforting

Multiple factors doubled retail inflation rate in wheat, rice since April

The spike in the prices of these two cereals was diametrically opposite to the cooling of the overall inflation rate and of food inflation, both of which hit a three-month low

Food prices at 9-month low as slow staples demand offset war disruptions

The continued decline offers some relief to households grappling with a cost-of-living crunch. The index is down for seventh month, its longest slump in 9 years, and food inflation has begun to slow

Energy prices to fall 11% in 2023 as economies slow down: World Bank study

Currency depreciation in developing countries could deepen food and energy inflation: Commodity Markets Outlook report

Statsguru: Six charts show the rise in MSP for rabi marketing season

The government's decisions on MSP are often said to be driven also with an eye on food inflation

Unseasonal rain, crop losses could keep India's food inflation high

Economists say annual headline inflation will likely start easing from September's 7.41% peak but price pressures on grains, vegetable, and milk will persist

UK inflation returns to 40-year high of 10.1% as food prices rise

British food prices rose at the fastest pace since 1980 last month, driving inflation back to a 40-year high and heaping pressure on the embattled government to balance the books without gutting help for the nation's poorest residents. Food prices jumped 14.6 per cent in the year through September, led by the soaring cost of staples such as meat, bread, milk and eggs, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday. That pushed consumer price inflation back to 10.1 per cent, the highest since early 1982 and equal to the level last reached in July. The figures immediately fuelled demands that the government do more to help families and retirees as it struggles to regain credibility after an ill-fated package of tax cuts roiled financial markets. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt ditched the package after he took office last week, but he has warned that this will be a difficult winter and spending reductions also will be needed. Glenn Sanderson, head teacher at St. Aidan's Catholic ..

Kharif arrivals likely to dampen food prices, but downside limited

CPI-inflation for the month of September surged to a five-month high of 7.4 per cent largely due to a spike in food inflation which jumped to a 22-month high of 8.6 per cent for the same period

New Zealand's annual food price increase remains at 13-year high

Food prices were 8.3 per cent higher in September 2022 compared with September 2021 in New Zealand, the country's statistics department Stats NZ said on Thursday

High food prices push retail inflation to 5-month high of 7.41% in Sept

IIP shrinks 0.8% in Aug - a first in 17 months

Poor rainfall in Gangetic plains may spike food inflation in near-term

The deficient rain in the Northern plains, especially in the Gangetic region, is likely to increase food inflation in the near term as overall paddy production will be hit in these areas due to poor monsoon, according to a report. Major agricultural states, such as Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, have had poor rains during the just concluded season, which may lead to an increase in the prices of rice due to lower paddy products in the near term. The share of these states in overall rice sowing in the Kharif season (as of September 23) has declined to 24.1 per cent from 26 per cent in the previous year, according to an assessment by India Ratings. This is despite the fact that the 2022 monsoon has been above normal but has not spread adequately across the regions. As of September 30, the rainfalls fared well at 92.5cm, which is 6 per cent above the long period average (LPA) of 86.86 cm. At the disaggregate level, while 12 states/Union territories had excess rainfall (deviation f

Ukraine conflict aggravates food and energy inflation, says Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday that the conflict in Ukraine has aggravated food and energy inflation to make it one of the biggest challenges of our times. In his address here on a special India@75' Showcasing India-UN Partnership in Action' event, Jaishankar said India today envisions itself as a developed country by 2047, the 100th year of its independence. The conflict in Ukraine has aggravated food and energy inflation to make it one of the biggest challenges of our times. India has responded by supplying food grains including as grant assistance in recent years to Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Yemen and several other countries, he said. We dream of digitizing our most remote villages and landing on the moon. Perhaps even digitizing it. Our foundational belief is that India's own development is inseparable from that of the rest of the world, he said. The event was attended by dignitaries from the UN including President of the 77th session of UN Gener

Shortfall in Kharif output may keep rice prices at elevated levels

A 6-7 million tonnes shortfall in rice production due to a fall in paddy sowing area is likely to keep rice prices at elevated levels, adding to the inflationary pressure that the slowing economy is already grappling with. Elevated food prices, including that of cereals, had led to retail inflation reversing a three-month declining trend, to touch 7 per cent in August. Similarly, the wholesale price inflation, which declined to 11-month low, also showed price pressures from cereals resulting from wheat output being impacted by severe heat waves in some parts of the country. In addition to this, expectation of a lower paddy output - conservative by government estimates and higher if outside experts are to be believed - will keep inflationary expectations higher, experts and analysts believe. Erratic June-September rainfall and delayed withdrawal of South-West monsoon rains have added to concerns over paddy crop. India's rice production during the 2021-22 crop year, ended June, stoo

WPI-based inflation softens to 11-month low at 12.41% in August

However, this is the 17th consecutive month since April 2021 that the factory-gate inflation has remained in the double digit, primarily driven by rising energy and food prices

IMF looks at ways to help countries affected by global food shock

About 50 nations meet the criteria, with 20 to 30 being in need "immediately," Georgieva said