China and India both reported higher-than-expected inflation readings on Friday, giving fresh ammunition to central bankers and investors alike who are worried about mounting price pressures in the global economy. Get the full story »
Inside these posts: Food prices
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Nestle says it will hold price hikes to 1.6%
Nestle AG , the world’s biggest foodmaker, expects to raise prices by 1.6 percent in 2011, the company chairman said Tuesday, similar to last year’s increase despite soaring raw material costs.
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe told Reuters Insider that the company, which makes Nescafe coffee and Gerber baby food, would spend an extra $3.5 billion on raw materials in 2011, with more than half of that would be absorbed internally. Get the full story »
CME: High agricultural prices attract investment
High prices for agricultural commodities will attract investment into the sector that could boost production and help increase global food supplies, according to David Lehman, managing director for research at exchange operator CME Group Inc. Get the full story »
Analysts see no relief from food price increases
A rising tide of global forces is supporting the surge in prices for important food staples such as meat, dairy and grains, commodity experts said at the Reuters Global Food and Agriculture Summit on Tuesday.
“This is a pretty sustainable increase. … A number of factors have been building over time in terms of the commodity increase: world economic growth, rising crude oil prices, increased Chinese import demand all have conspired,” said Bill Lapp, president of Advanced Economic Solutions, a commodity analytical firm based in Omaha, Neb. Get the full story »
Sara Lee plans more price increases
Sara Lee Corp. will raise overall prices in the high single-digit percentages this fiscal year, with increases on everything from Jimmy Dean sausage to frozen pies, an executive said at the Reuters Global Food and Agriculture Summit Monday. Get the full story »
World food prices hit new record high
The FAO index of global food prices climbed to a fresh record high in February, above 2008 peaks when high food prices sparked riots in several countries, U.N Food and Agriculture Organisation data showed on Thursday.
The index, which measures monthly price changes for a food basket composed of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 236 points in February, the record in real and nominal terms, up 2.2 percent from January’s record and rising for the eighth month in a row. Get the full story »
USDA warns of food-price shock
U.S. consumers could see food costs spiking to levels seen during the food crisis of 2008 on higher commodity and energy prices, the Agriculture Department said on Thursday.
Food prices are forecast to rise 3.5 percent this year — nearly double the overall inflation rate. The lion’s share of the increase is expected in the second half of 2011, when the recent uptick for commodities, such as corn and soybeans, makes its way through the food system. Just last month, USDA forecast an increase of 2.5 percent in 2011. Get the full story »
World food prices hit record high
The U.N.’s food price index hit a record in January and recent catastrophic weather around the globe could put more pressure on the cost of food, an issue that has already helped spark protests across the Middle East.
Up for the seventh month in a row, the closely watched Food and Agriculture Oganisation Food Price Index on Thursday touched its highest since records began in 1990, and topped the peak of 224.1 in June 2008, during the food crisis of 2007/08. Get the full story »
Higher energy and food costs lift wholesale prices
A spike in oil and food costs pushed wholesale prices up last month by the biggest amount in nearly a year, a trend that could threaten the still-fragile global economy.
Food inflation, bad weather lift Potash shares
Shares of North American agricultural companies, from fertilizer makers to grain handlers, will likely surge this year as weather-related crop damage causes global food price inflation.
Potash Corp. shares in New York have shot up more than 20 percent since mid-December to about $168, far exceeding the $130 per share offer it rejected last year in a hostile takeover bid by BHP Billiton. Get the full story »
JPMorgan: Rising food prices are fueling inflation
Rising food prices are stoking global inflation with many agricultural commodity markets on the rise, driven by adverse weather in key producing countries, a senior trader at JPMorgan said on Monday. Get the full story »
G20 to tackle soaring food prices
The Group of 20 leading economies will discuss ways to tackle soaring food prices that are stoking fears of a repeat of the 2008 food crisis, as some Asian countries sought to reassure nervous consumers on Friday.
Global food prices hit a record high last month, outstripping the levels that sparked riots in several countries in 2008, and key grains could rise yet further, the United Nations’ food agency said this week. Get the full story »
Bunge sees volatile food prices in 2011
Grain prices, already at two-year highs, are set to rise further this year before normalising in 2012 as the higher prices prompt farmers to plant more, the head of agribusiness giant Bunge told the Financial Times.
“For the next 12 months I think you will see volatility of prices,” Alberto Weisser said in an interview published on Wednesday. Grain prices rallied in 2010 after poor harvests in Russia and Australia. Get the full story »
General Mills pegs full-year profit to higher prices
General Mills Inc. said price increases on foods such as frozen vegetables and baking products should help it meet its profit target for the year.
The company also said it is on track to cut $1 billion in costs by the end of May 2012, which should help offset rising commodity costs that contributed to weaker-than-expected second-quarter results. And new products such as Cinnamon Burst Cheerios and Gluten Free Bisquick will lift sales. Get the full story »
