World Bank: Global food prices surged; sugar up 62%, wheat rises 55%

(Updated 8:49 p.m.) Prices of major food commodities in the world market rose last July to higher than year-ago levels, with sugar rising 62 percent and wheat climbing 55 percent, according to the World Bank’s August 2011 Food Price Watch. “First, global stocks still remain alarmingly low. The stocks-to-use ratio for maize, for example, currently stands at about 13 percent — the smallest it has been since the early 1970s," the WB report said. “Wheat and (milled) rice stocks also remain well below their late 1990s and early 2000 levels," the report noted. “In addition, the recent surge in rice prices — which increased by 11 percent in the last quarter — is a departure from the general decline since February and can have an impact on food price indices in the coming months," the World Bank said. Last February, the World Bank said, “the decision by the Philippines to limit imports, and the release of large stocks onto the market by Thailand, prices appear to be leveling off." The months ahead In the August report, the multilateral lender explained that low inventories make the market sensitive to “even small shortfalls in yields" which can enhance the upward push on prices. Over the coming months, the bank said lower-than-expected sugarcane yields in Brazil could have unexpected effects on prices. Food Price Watch also observed an 8 percent increase in demand for maize — a raw material for producing ethanol. The report said there could be more maize price hikes ahead “given the prevailing uncertainties in the energy market." — ELR/VS, GMA News