Argentina pledges to export an extra 2.75 million tons of corn from its 2011-12 harvest to a total of 16.45 million tons helping to ease tight international markets after this summer's drought in the US damaged crops there and fuelled fears of a food crisis.
Global food prices remained steady in August, the United Nations food agency said Thursday, but warned that the game is not over as it was only the beginning of the harvest season.
Following the first-ever detection of African swine fever (ASF)in Ukraine, the United Nations is warning that while control measures appear to have temporarily halted the disease's spread, it has established a firm foothold in the Caucasus and poses an ongoing risk to neighbouring areas.
US, France and Mexico are planning talks to consider whether an emergency meeting is needed to tackle the soaring price of grain. The three will hold a conference call at the end of this month after the worst US drought in 50 years threatens to cause a sharp rise in the cost of staple crops.
The world could face a food crisis of the kind seen in 2007/08 if countries restrict exports on concerns about a drought-fuelled grain price rally, the UN food agency FAO warned, after reporting a surge in global food prices in July.
The United Nations’ food agency cut its 2012 global rice production forecast but said supply would still outstrip demand and that there was no increased risk of a food crisis as long as countries do not resort to export bans.
Food inflation in Latin America and the Caribbean reached 8.9% in June compared to the same month in 2011, which means the highest so far this year, according to a report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO.
The UN's food agency FAO and the OIE (Animal health organization) called on countries on to comply with a 2011 global moratorium and destroy potentially dangerous “rinderpest” virus samples or put them into safe storage.
A second global food price shock is gathering steam as bad weather decimates crops in the farming giants US, Brazil, Argentina, India, Russia, the EU and Australia that feed the world, according to market analysts.
FAO Food Price Index fell for the third consecutive month in June 2012, dipping 1.8% from May to its lowest level since September 2010. The four-point drop in June brought the index to 201 points from a revised level of 205 points in May 2012.