Commodity
Featured blog
July AMIS Market Monitor: Crop Conditions, Policy Developments, Prices and More
Conditions are favorable for wheat, maize and soybeans in the northern hemisphere according to this month's AMIS Market Monitor, while conditions for rice are mixed depending on the country.
The AMIS Market Monitor provides a synopsis of major developments in international commodity markets, focusing on wheat, maize, rice and soybeans. It represents the collective assessment of the ten international organizations that form the AMIS Secretariat concerning the international market situation and outlook.
Latest Reports on Grains Released by FAO, International Grains Council
The April edition of the FAO Monthly News Report on Grains was released today, with multiple articles addressing China's grain management system and coverage of record cereal and wheat harvests for Morocco and India, respectively. The report also covers ongoing global and regional trends in grain prices and policies.
FAO Sees Food Prices Fall for Second Consecutive Month
The FAO Food Price Index for May was released yesterday and is down 2.5 points from April, and nearly 7 points from May 2013. This is the second decline in a row, following the ten-month high reached in March. The decline is driven mostly by lower dairy, cereals, and vegetable oils prices.
FAO Food Price Index Falls Slightly in April
Global food prices dropped slowly in April, led by sharp declines in dairy products, sugar, and vegetable oils, according to the latest FAO Food Price Index. The Index fell 1.6 percent from March.
By contrast, the Cereal Price Index rose in April by one point. However, cereal prices remain well below (10.3 percent below) their April 2013 levels. The Meat Price Index also rose in April, with pig meat prices rising and bovine meat prices near historic highs.
Maize Bumper Crop Triggers Reassessment of Ethiopia’s Cereal Export Ban
Eight years ago, the Government of Ethiopia placed an export ban on maize and other major cereal crops. At the time, Ethiopia’s grain prices were three times higher than those on international markets. The government saw the price hikes as a symptom of trade and not high inflation rates, among other factors. But in 2013, higher-than-average Kiremt rains spurred projections of a bumper maize crop, which triggered the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) to consider advising the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) to lift the export ban for the 2014 marketing season.