Page 5 - Food Prices

FMCG firms see subdued growth in Q2; rising food prices hamper rural demand

The FMCG industry expects a subdued low to mid-single-digit volume growth in the July-September quarter as weak macroeconomic conditions amid rising food prices and below-normal rainfall in some regions are impeding the recovery in rural demand. Companies such as Marico, Dabur and Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) in their quarterly updates said that though there was an improvement in consumption in the second quarter, the recovery has been gradual. Moreover, the festive season this year has entirely shifted to the third quarter, due to which offtake related to festivals is delayed and will carry forward to the next quarter, the companies said. Over their gross margins, the companies said they expect it to be better sequentially, helped by moderating inflation and easing price growths. This also helped them to go for higher A&P (Advertisements and Promotions) spending. Updating its business performance for the September quarter, GCPL said: "In India, we witnessed weak macros and

Inflation risks

Supply-side issues will complicate policy choices

Festivities, polls prompt govt to keep tabs on food price movement

Global prices for Indian basket of crude averaged o $93.03 a barrel till 26th of this month against $86.43 in the previous month and $80.37 in July

Extreme weather turns up the heat on long-term investment in agriculture

Rising global temperatures threaten to damage crops that rely on predictable weather, which will likely lead to higher food prices

India's inflation higher than peers; global prices hit a two-year low

Downward pressure on food as global prices hit a two-year low

RBI must ensure there's no spillover from surging food prices: MPC members

The central bank is targeting to keep inflation between 2% and 6% but the consumer price index accelerated by 7.44% last month

Inflation will remain steady in coming months, growth on track: FinMin

Food price inflation rose to 11.5% in July, its highest in more than 3-1/2 years, while India is set to receive its sparsest monsoon rains in eight years

July WPI-based inflation comes at -1.36% as food prices skyrocket

WPI inflation in primary articles was considerably higher at 7.57 per cent as compared to July last year

Govt to release buffer onion in open market to keep prices under check

The government on Friday announced it will release onion from its buffer stock in the targeted regions with immediate effect to ensure prices remain under check till the new crop arrives from October onwards. The government is exploring multiple options for disposal of onion: e-auction, e-commerce as well as through states at discounted rates via retail outlets of their consumer cooperatives and corporations, it said. The government has currently maintained 3 lakh tonnes of onion under the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) to meet any exigencies, if rates go up significantly during the lean supply season. As per the government data, onion prices have started inching up slightly as all-India retail price of the key kitchen staple was available at Rs 27.90 per kilogramme on August 10, higher by a little over Rs 2 per kg in the year-ago period. "We will release onion from the buffer stock immediately," Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh told PTI. The modalities for the disposa

Controlling inflation will depend on monsoon, vegetable prices

In July, monsoon rains were almost 13% more than normal across India. In the entire monsoon season between June 1 and August 7, rainfall across India has been 2% above normal

Investors in India see yet another year of high rates on price shock

Overnight-indexed swaps show that India's borrowing costs are likely to decline only in the second half of 2024, a shift from earlier when they were pricing in two reductions after the June meeting

Top headlines: India Inc profit surges 65%, world entering green energy era

Business Standard brings you the top headlines at this hour

No end in sight? Food price hike likely to disturb India's inflation maths

But, the price rise has not been only limited to vegetables, infact, wheat, rice, spices and even edible oil rates have shown an upward movement off late

Retail inflation for industrial workers rises in June due to higher prices

Retail inflation for industrial workers inched up to 5.57 per cent in June compared to 4.42 per cent in May this year, mainly due to higher prices of certain food items. "Year-on-year inflation for the month stood at 5.57 per cent compared to 4.42 per cent for the previous month (May) and 6.16 per cent during the corresponding month (June 2022) a year before," a labour ministry statement said. Similarly, food inflation stood at six per cent against 3.24 per cent in the previous month and 6.73 per cent during the corresponding month a year ago, it added. The All-India CPI-IW (consumer price index for industrial workers) for June 2023 increased by 1.7 points and stood at 136.4 points. It was 134.7 points in May 2023. On one-month percentage change, it increased by 1.26 per cent with respect to the previous month against an increase of 0.16 per cent recorded in corresponding months a year ago, it stated. The maximum upward pressure in the current index came from Food & Beverages ...

Why states must not use central food grains for non-entitled categories

The Centre's decision in discontinuing with OMSS to states is in the interest of entire nation

As food prices spiral, fight against inflation not over: RBI report

CPI-based inflation rate increased to 4.8 per cent in June 2023, from 4.3 per cent in May, primarily on account of an increase in food inflation

2030 development goals in trouble, 575 mn people will remain very poor: UN

In a grim report, the UN warned Monday that at the current rate of global progress 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty and 84 million children won't be going to school in 2030 and it will take 286 years to reach equality between men and women. The report on progress in achieving 17 wide-ranging UN goals adopted by world leaders in 2015 to improve life for the world's more than 7 billion people said that only 15 per cent of some 140 specific targets that experts evaluated are on track to be reached by the end of the decade. Close to half the targets are moderately or severely off track, it said, and of those 30 per cent have either seen no movement at all or regressed including key targets on poverty, hunger and climate. The ambitious goals for 2030 include ensuring that hunger is eradicated and nobody lives on less than USD 2.15 a day which is the extreme poverty line, providing every child with a quality primary and secondary school education, achieving gend

Inflation likely rose to 4.58% in June on higher food prices: Reuters poll

"We believe the RBI will tolerate a supply-side driven rise in food inflation as long as core price pressures continue to ebb within the bank's tolerance band," said Alexandra Hermann

UN world food price index hit almost 2 years low at 122.3 points in June

The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) price index, which tracks the most globally-traded food commodities, averaged 122.3 points in June

Mother Dairy reduces MRP of Dhara edible oil by Rs 10 per litre

Mother Dairy, which is a leading milk supplier in Delhi-NCR, on Thursday said it has reduced the maximum retail price (MRP) of its Dhara edible oils by Rs 10 per litre and the stocks with new rates will be available in the market from next week. The reduction in the MRP is in line with fall in prices of edible oils in the global market, the company said. "The maximum retail price (MRP) of all variants of Dhara edible oils is being reduced by Rs 10 per litre on account of the continued decline in edible oil prices internationally and better availability of domestic crops such as mustard," a company spokesperson said. The revised MRP stocks are slated to hit the market within a week, the spokesperson added. The new rate of Dhara refined Soyabean Oil will be Rs 140 per litre. Dhara Refined Ricebran Oil MRP has been cut to Rs 160 per litre. The new MRP of Dhara Refined Vegetable Oil will now be Rs 200 per litre. Dhara Kachi Ghani Mustard Oil will be available at Rs 160 per litre MRP