Cereal prices declined by 1.3% - FAO

NaijaAgroNet:

Cereal prices declined by 1.3 per cent in the month of December from its November value due to intensifying export competition among maize producers according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), reports NaijaAgroNet.

FAO in its Cereal Price Index made available to NaijaAgroNet said expectations of more wheat supplies entering world markets after Argentina removed export taxes was a major influencer, noting that the sub-index, which includes rice, shed 15.4 per cent on average during 2015 from the previous year. 

While the Dairy Price Index subsided 1.0 per cent in December, and over the year was 28.5 per cent below its average level in 2014, the sharpest decline of any food commodity, a press statement from FAO showed.

The Meat Price Index, however, dropped by 2.2 per cent in December, which was prompted by surging pork output in Europe and reduced U.S. demand for imported beef, pointing out that “Over the full year, meat was on average 15.1 cheaper than in 2014.”

Whereas the Vegetable Oil Price Index rose 2.1 per cent in December, pushed up by uncertainties regarding Brazil's soybean crop, but over 2015 as a whole was 19 per cent below the previous year.

Meanwhile, FAO's Sugar Price Index rose 0.6 per cent in December, but was on average 21 per cent lower in 2015 than the previous year.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE 
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WTO: G33 reopen talks on subsidies in December

Anthony Nwakaegho /NaijaAgroNet

A group of developing countries known as G33 plans to re-open World Trade Organization, (WTO) discussions on limits to support for farmers at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia in December.

The group said that the combined effects of the global economic slowdown and increasing climatic shocks are threatening food security in developing countries and want to exceed their agreed domestic support limits when they buy, stock and supply cereals and other food to boost food security among the poor, devoid of any legal challenge.

NaijaAgroNet learnt that the WTO rules do not prescribe limits on the amount of food that can be bought at market prices for food stocks, and it does not limit the amount of food that can be provided as domestic food aid at subsidized prices, except that WTO only disciplines buying cereals at administered prices.

However, developed countries and some developing countries are concerned that the G33 proposal which is backed by India, China and Indonesia could affect food security in neighbouring countries as these measures could lead to surpluses in stocks, which the G33 members might dump in the global market thereby disrupting global prices.

Chairman of India's Commission for Agriculture Cost and Prices (CACP), Ashok Gulati, said that India wants more leeway to provide support for its farmers and consumers because the government is launching a massive subsidized food scheme through a public distribution system that will reach two-thirds of its population of nearly 800 million people.

 He explained that a situation where India would be in a position to dump excess stocks could arise "once in 10 years as the larger distortion will be domestic."

NaijaAgroNet noted that a representative from one of the G33 countries at the WTO, who preferred not to be named, said not all the members of the group were supportive of the proposal and stressed that “India is already the largest exporter of rice in the world... Small exporters will lose their competitiveness because of Indian subsidies... Rice prices are already going down, and with further subsidies it can lead to a price crash.”

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