MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

World Bank predicts oil at 75 USD and high food prices

The recent sharp declines in oil and food prices mark the end of what has been the most historic commodity price boom of the past century, says the World Bank in its report “Commodities at the crossroads”.

Like earlier booms, this one was driven by strong global economic growth and has come to an end with the abrupt slowdown in the global economy precipitated by the financial crisis. The exceptional duration of this five-year commodity boom, the number of commodities involved, and the heights that prices reached reflect the resilience of developing country growth during this period. Between early 2003 and mid-2008, oil prices climbed by 320% in dollar terms, and internationally traded food prices by 138%. But according to the WB the prolonged boom is clearly over, even as the social and human consequences of historic high prices linger. Prices across the board have fallen, giving up much of their earlier gains, due to slower GDP growth, increased supplies, and revised expectations. However, they still remain a lot higher than they were at the start of the boom and are expected to remain higher than during the 1990s over the next 20 years, owing to bio-fuel-driven demand for food grains. Oil prices are likely to average about 75 USD a barrel next year and, for the next five years, real food prices worldwide are expected to remain about 25% higher than they were in the 1990s. Despite the fall in commodity prices, concerns persist about long-term demand and supply, and about the impact of high commodity prices on poor people. The report's authors examine whether the world might be heading into a prolonged period of insufficiency, withâ€"as some fearâ€"dwindling supplies of oil, metals, and food grains, and ever-increasing prices. They also look at how poor people are affected and how best they can be helped. "We find that speculation about looming shortages of food and energy are not well founded, and that the world won't run out of key commodities given the right policies," said Andrew Burns, lead author of the report, "How things actually play out over the next 20 years depends on governments taking steps to reduce oil dependence, promote alternative energy, combat climate change, and boost farm productivity." Why won't commodities quickly grow scarce? The world economy is entering a phase of slower growth, due to slower population growth, ageing in high-income countries and slower growth in some large fast-growing developing countries as income levels catch up. Also, technological progress has reduced the energy and food resources used per unit of GDP. China's metal demandâ€"which accounts for a global rise in metal intensityâ€"is expected to stabilize, then decline in step with the rest of the world. Demand in developing countries for new cars and trucks is likely to drive 75% of additional energy needs between now and 2030, so efficiency gains in transport are critical. These gains potentially include hybrid, electric, and hydrogen-powered cars. With slowing population growth, the world is unlikely to run out of food. But supply might not keep pace with demand in some countries with fast growing populations, especially in Africa. These countries need to boost domestic agricultural productivity by improving rural road networks and increasing agricultural research and development. Food prices will likely continue to be more sensitive to oil prices as a result of increased bio-fuel production from food crops. However, new technologies such as non-grain-based bio-fuels and other energy alternatives could make grain-based bio-fuels uneconomical. Another key finding from the report is that commodity exports can promote growth given the right policies. In particular, the report notes that although resource-dependent countries tend to grow slowly, resource-rich countries tend to be high-income countries. The report concludes that rather than commodity dependence causing slow growth and poverty, it is slow growth – the failure to develop the non-commodity sectors of an economy – that explains commodity dependence. Resource-rich countries have managed their recent windfall revenues more prudently than in the past, and so are better prepared for the current decline in prices. But countries with new-found resources and those heavily reliant on bank lending may be at risk. Finally, the report notes that high commodity pricesâ€"particularly of foodâ€"have had a profound impact on poverty, pushing 130 to 155 million people below the poverty line just between December 2005 and December 2007. The worst impact was in urban areas.