WORLD BANK/ GLOBAL FOOD PRICES SPIKE

The latest food price report from the World Bank Group says that global food prices increased by eight percent in the first part of 2012 after months of consecutive price declines, due to higher oil prices, adverse weather conditions and Asia's strong demand for food imports. WORLD BANK

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:00
• Production Date: 24 April 2012
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: WORLD BANK
• Subject Topical: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; FINANCING; ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
• MAMS Id: U120424f

Description

STORY: WORLD BANK/ GLOBAL FOOD PRICES SPIKE
TRT: 2.00
SOURCE: WORLD BANK
RESTRICTIONS: EMBARGOED UNTIL 2.00pm GMT WEDNESDAY APRIL 25
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/SPANISH / NATS

DATELINE: 25 APRIL 2012, WASHINGTON, DC/FILE

Shotlist

FILE – 2011, WORLD BANK HEADQUARTERS, WASHINGTON, DC

1. Wide shot, World Bank Headquarters

25 APRIL 2012, WASHINGTON, DC

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Jose Cuesta, Senior Economist, World Bank Group:
“Global prices of food have peaked in February 2011 and had been declining since, especially for the period of October 2011 to December 2011. But this trend has been reversed since January 2012 and right now we have the level of prices 8 percent higher than in December 2011 and they are apparently only 6 percent below the historical peak of February 2011.

FILE - Brazil 2012

3. Med Shot, Family eating at cafeteria,

FILE- ETHIOPIA 2012

4. Med. Shot. Father eating with kids, Ethiopia 2012

FILE – CAMBODIA 2011

5. Med Shot, Husband and wife eating, Cambodia 2011

25 APRIL 2012, WASHINGTON, DC

6.SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jose Cuesta, Senior Economist, The World Bank Group: “Las tendencias de incremento de precios de alimentos han sido globales a través de las regiones, sin embargo el incremento de precios es importante en África, las razones por las cuales se han producido estos incrementos a nivel global, han sido el incremento de precios del petróleo, el incremento de la demanda de importaciones de los países asiáticos, así como condiciones climáticas adversas, tanto en Europa como en América Latina”.

FILE – LAOS 2011

7. Wide shot. Woman purchasing food

FILE – INDONESIA 2011

8. Wide shot, Woman purchasing food

25 APRIL 2012, WASHINGTON, DC

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Jose Cuesta, Senior Economist, The World Bank Group: “We have a number of food insecurity alerts in the Sahel and Eastern parts of Africa. At the same time we have good prospects for production in 2012 and 2013 and we have other signs that are positive. Therefore we don’t know exactly what will be the short term evolution of prices and we must remain vigilant.

FILE – BURKINA FASO 2009

10.Pan right, truck carrying food

FILE – NIGER 2007

11.Pan right, dry desert

FILE – MALAWI 2009

12. Wide shot, dried up crops

Storyline

Global food prices increased by 8 percent from December 2011 to March 2012 due to higher oil prices, adverse weather conditions, and Asia’s strong demand for food imports, according to the World Bank Group’s latest Food Price Watch.

The World Bank’s Global Food Price Index was only 1 percent below a year ago and 6 percent below the February 2011 historic peak. If the current forecasts for increased food production do not materialize, global food prices could reach higher levels, underscoring the need to remain very vigilant.

According to the quarterly Food Price Watch report, prices of all key staples increased between last December and March of this year, except for rice, due to both abundant supply and strong competition among exporters. Maize prices increased by 9 percent, soybean oil by 7 percent, wheat by 6 percent, and sugar by 5 percent. Crude oil prices rose by 13 percent.

In addition, domestic food prices remain high, especially in Africa as the result of a combination of large food imports and local factors, such as trade restrictions between neighbors, hoarding, civil unrest, high fuel transportation costs and bad weather conditions.

In a global context, domestic food price increases have been larger than price declines across countries. Wheat prices from March 2011 to March 2012 rose 92 percent in Belarus, while the price of maize increased by 82 percent in Malawi, 80 percent in Ethiopia, and 71 percent in Mexico.

Production outlooks remain strong for 2012/13 and a number of factors have kept pressures on prices at bay. Record prices in late 2010 and early 2011 led to increased production of major crops worldwide, and are a key factor in the strong projections for the 2012/13 season. The slowdown in maize use for ethanol production in the U.S. and weak global demand due to the euro crisis are contributing to keeping upward price pressures on check.