The National Australia Bank (NAB) in its latest Rural Commodities Outlook  wrap  issued on 22 December 2011 has reported that apart from the weakening global economy, there is also a very strong production response hitting world agricultural commodity markets. Australian rural production  is on track for  massive winter crops in 2012 because of good rains adding to downward pressure on prices.  At  the same time, sugar and cotton production growth in Australia have also been part of the general... ...Read more »

The 2011 total winter wheat crop is expected to be Australia’s third-largest on record, according to a new industry report released by specialist agribusiness bank, Rabobank. Rabobank estimates the wheat crop at 25.6 million tones for winter, despite variable crop conditions along the east coast and in South Australia. The expected increase in Western Australian production should compensate for the anticipated fall in the East Coast production. Rabobank senior analyst Dean Smith said that Spring... ...Read more »

American multi-national beverage corporation Pepsi Co has reported a rise in earnings of 4.1% for the third quarter of 2011. Releasing its third quarter results today, Pepsi Co said the rise in profit was driven by “top-line gains across its worldwide snacks and beverage businesses and from the acquisition of Wimm-Bill-Dann (WBD), the leading dairy and juice company in Russia”. PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi said that its worldwide snacks volume had increased by eight percent, reflecting... ...Read more »

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) sugar price index rose by 14% from May to June as the market reacted to a predicted shortage in Brazil.The index reached 359 points, albeit 15% below its thirty-year high earlier in the year, the FAO said today (7 July). The recent price rise reflects short-term demand against tight exportable availabilities, notably in Brazil, it said. “The sugar prices have been very volatile over the past month,” FAO analyst Elmamoun Amrouk told just-food... ...Read more »

France will use talks with other G20 nations to argue for tougher rules on global food commodities trading, as surging prices pose a risk to businesses and consumers. France kicked-off two-day talks in Paris yesterday (22 June) to persuade G20 nations to impose caps on investments in food commodities, such as wheat, barley and sugar. Under its proposals, investors would also have to declare themselves as either speculative or commercial traders. It is the first time that agriculture ministers have... ...Read more »

A major international report has predicted that average food commodity prices will be much higher this decade than the last. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) and the Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have projected maize costs will be almost 20% higher this decade on average, and rice more than 15% higher. It also predicts that butter prices will soar worldwide and stay high, rising more than 45%, with poultry prices increasing 30% to 35%. Wheat prices are... ...Read more »

Bread giant Goodman Fielder has announced a reduction in its expected profits following a “soft” third quarter, with businesses affected by retailer competition between Coles and Woolworths, fallout from the floods, commodity costs and the high Australian dollar. “At the time of the release of the company’s Interim results, the company anticipated that NPAT for the year would be in line with the prior year’s normalised earnings. The company now expects FY 2011 NPAT to be in... ...Read more »

The chairman of Australian food manufacturer Goodman Fielder has warned that the company “continues to confront commodity cost pressures and significant price volatility”. In a letter sent to shareholders last week, Max Ould said the breads-to-spreads manufacturer said its “challenge” will be to recover the increases in the marketplace. However, he added that it will be “even more difficult” for Goodman Fielder to recover its cost increases “given the extreme... ...Read more »

Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke has said that a long-term rise in commodity prices would be “no bad thing” and suggested it would drive investment into the agriculture sector. Bulcke told an analyst event in London last week that beneath the recent volatility in commodity costs was an “underlying trend” of rising raw-material prices due, in part, to the growing world’s population. Food manufacturers have faced a growing raw materials bill in recent months and have looked to... ...Read more »

Cocoa prices have shot up as the president-elect of major cocoa-exporting nation Cote D’Ivoire announced an export ban amid political struggles in the country. Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognised winner of last November’s presidential election, announced a one-month suspension on exports of cocoa yesterday morning. He said that anyone not adhering to the ban would be considered to be “financing the illegitimate regime” of Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent Ivory Coast... ...Read more »