Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 6/3/14
 
A new report from the World Bank indicates that international food prices reversed a nearly two-year trend by rising between January and April 2014.

The organization’s latest Food Price Watch shows that international food prices climbed by 4 percent in the period, ending a declining trend that’s been in place since August 2012. The report adds that international prices for wheat and corn (maize) rose sharply in the first four months of the year, a new aspect for wheat relative to the run-up in wheat prices before the grain hit an historic high in the summer of 2012.

The report also cites increasing weather concerns and import demand shifts for causing most of the global price increases. Such increases have taken place in spite of bumper crops last year and consistent expectations of record grain harvests for 2014. The World Bank report also notes that domestic prices for food maintained their usual fluctuations, with grain prices holding at stable levels from January to April.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.