Business

Food inflation: Tight grain, oilseed supplies to keep prices elevated

Published

10 months ago

Farwa

SINGAPORE: Drought or too much rain, the war in Ukraine and high energy costs look set to curb global farm production again next year, tightening supplies, even as high prices encourage farmers to boost planting.

Production of staples such as rice and wheat is unlikely to replenish depleted inventories, at least in the first half of 2023, while crops producing edible oils are suffering from adverse weather in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

“The world needs record crops to satisfy demand. In 2023, we absolutely need to do better than this year,” said Ole Houe, director of advisory services at agriculture brokerage IKON Commodities in Sydney.

“At this stage, it looks highly unlikely, if we look at the global production prospects for cereals and oilseeds.”

Wheat, corn and palm oil futures have from dropped from the record or multi-year highs but prices in the retail market remain elevated and tight supplies are forecast to support prices in 2023.

Why it matters

With food prices climbing to record peaks this year, millions of people are suffering across the world, especially in poorer nations in Africa and Asia already facing hunger and malnutrition.

Food import costs are already on course to hit a nearly $2 trillion record in 2022, forcing poor countries to cut consumption.

Benchmark Chicago wheat futures jumped to an all-time high of $13.64 a bushel in March after Russia’s invasion of key grain exporter Ukraine reduced supplies in a market already hit by adverse weather and post-pandemic restrictions.

Corn and soybeans climbed to their highest in a decade, while Malaysia’s benchmark crude palm oil prices climbed to a record high in March.

Wheat prices have since dropped to pre-war levels and palm oil has lost around 40% of its value, amid fears of a global recession, China’s COVID-19 restrictions and an extension of the Black Sea corridor deal for Ukrainian grain exports.

What does it mean for 2023?

While flooding in Australia, the world’s second-largest wheat exporter, in recent weeks has caused extensive damage to the crop which was ready for harvest, a severe drought is expected to shrink Argentina’s wheat crop by almost 40%.

This will reduce global wheat availability in the first half of 2023.

A lack of rainfall in the US Plains, where the winter crop ratings are running at the lowest since 2012, could dent supplies for the second half of the year.

For rice, prices are expected to remain high as long as export duties imposed earlier this year by India, the world’s biggest supplier, remain in place, traders said.

“Rice availability in most exporting countries is pretty thin except India, but it has export duties in place to reduce sales,” said one Singapore-based trader at an international trading company.

“If we get a production shock in any of the top exporting or importing counties, it can really swing the market upside.”

The outlook for corn and soybeans in South America looks bright for its harvest in early 2023, although recent dryness in parts of Brazil, the world’s top bean exporter, has raised worries.

US domestic supplies of key crops including corn, soybeans and wheat are expected to remain snug into 2023, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

The agency is forecasting US corn supplies to fall to a decade low before the 2023 harvest, while soybean stocks were seen at a seven-year low and wheat ending stocks are forecast at the lowest in 15 years.

Palm oil, the world’s most consumed edible oil, is taking a hit from tropical storms across Southeast Asia where high costs have resulted in lower use of fertilizer.

Still, higher prices of grains and cereals have encouraged farmers to plant more crops in some countries including India, China and Brazil.

“Planting is higher in several countries but the output is expected to remain subdued due to adverse weather and other factors,” said Ole. “Production is unlikely to be enough to replenish supplies which have been drawn down.”

Explore the Reuters round-up of news stories that dominated the year, and the outlook for 2023.

Business

Pak Suzuki plans to export cars

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

Company working on hybrid variants, says CEO.
Hiroshi Kawamura calls local participants for joint efforts.
Notable part manufacturers attend meeting.

LAHORE: Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd (PSMCL) chief executive Hiroshi Kawamura has said that the company has been working on exports of cars which have been upgraded to many WP-29 standards, The News reported Friday.

Addressing the second round of interactive meetings with the part-makers — held under the banner of Suzuki Motors — Kawamura said that the economic issues were transitory and the automobile company was committed to providing affordable vehicles to common Pakistanis.

The CEO also revealed that the company was working on hybrid variants.

Participants of the meeting, which was attended by notable part manufacturers, unanimously agreed that the automakers should promote localisation, while also reaching out to global markets.

Calling the local participants for joint efforts, Kawamura said: “It is imperative to take stock of the escalating crisis collectively for the automotive industry.”

“Nothing can be achieved without local partners.”

Addressing the meeting, Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) Senior Vice Chairman Usman Aslam Malik assured of complete support to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for the export of auto components.

It should be noted that WP-29 standards are a unique worldwide regulatory forum within the institutional framework of the UNECE Inland Transport Committee.

Three UN Agreements, adopted in 1958, 1997 and 1998, provide the legal framework allowing contracting parties (member countries) attending the WP.29 sessions to establish regulatory instruments concerning motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment.

Those are UN Regulations, annexed to the 1958 Agreement; United Nations Global Technical Regulations (UN GTRs), associated with the 1998 Agreement; and UN Rules, annexed to the 1997 Agreement.

Business

Govt plans austerity measures by slashing Rs1.9tr expenditures

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

Govt decides reducing operational spending on devolved ministries.
Recommends ban on new posts, hiring daily wages/other staff, etc.
Considers implementing cost-sharing mechanism of BISP with provinces.

ISLAMABAD: The caretaker government is planning to take austerity measures by cutting down expenditures by Rs1.9 trillion including banning new posts, purchasing security vehicles, and slashing down allocation for development, The News reported Friday.

The government has also considered making a treasury single account (TSA) and asking the federal ministries and attached departments to shift the money into the federal government account to save up to Rs424 billion.

It has been calculated that 10% of the expenditures incurred on running the federal government in FY22 could save Rs54 billion as worked out by the World Bank.

The government has also decided to reduce the operational spending on devolved ministries to save up to Rs328 billion for the whole financial year 2023-24.

In the aftermath of the 18th Amendment, different subjects were transferred to the provinces but the centre continued spending, causing losses to the national exchequer.

A detailed working of the government considered by the high-profile Cabinet Committee on Economic Revival (CCER) so far proposed certain austerity measures to cut down the expenditures by up to Rs1.9 trillion on a short-term basis.

However, it is yet to be seen if these measures will be implemented in letter and spirit.

It recommended that the federal and provincial governments both take austerity measures to reduce the expenditures by Rs54 billion for six months such as slapping a ban on new posts, hiring of daily wages/other staff, ban on purchasing new vehicles including from project funding, ban on purchase of machinery and equipment except medical, ban on travel abroad including official visits, medical treatment, cabinet members to forego pay and government vehicles and security vehicles to be withdrawn.

The ambitious plan also envisages that the triage of 14 loss-making entities will potentially save Rs458 billion for the whole financial year. The reduced operational spending on devolved ministries is going to save up to Rs328 billion during the current financial year.

The Ministry of Finance has estimated that the devolution of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to the provinces would save Rs70 billion per annum. Education had become a provincial subject in the aftermath of the 18th Amendment but the Center recontinued with the HEC at the federal level.

The caretaker regime has placed it as an agenda to devolve the HEC to the provinces so it is yet to see how much they are going to succeed on this front.

Moreover, it is also considering implementing the cost-sharing mechanism of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) with the provinces to save Rs217 billion on an annual basis.

The federal government is also considering re-focusing the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) spending only on federally mandated projects which could save Rs315 billion annually.

Caretaker Minister for Finance Dr Shamshad Akhtar had already directed the minister for planning to work out details of projects of a provincial nature for their removal from the list of PSDP to cut down the expenditures by Rs315 billion for the current fiscal year.

The last Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led regime had allocated Rs950 billion for the PSDP in budget 2023-24.

Business

PKR on track to become top-performing currency this month: Bloomberg

Published

3 days ago

Farwa

Pakistani currency rose around 6% this month against dollar.
Authorities curb leakages happening through illegal channels.
Crackdown on illegal dollar traders helps local currency.

The Pakistani rupee is on track to become the top performer globally in September as the caretaker government continues its crackdown on illegal dollar trade, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

The local currency rose around 6% this month against the dollar — an amazing feat despite the Thai baht and South Korean won tumbling against the greenback.

Major currencies lost ground against the dollar on speculations that the US interest rates will stay elevated for longer.

The rupee increased 0.1% to 287.95 per dollar on Thursday, after sliding to a record low of about 307 this month. Pakistan’s currency market will remain closed for the Eid Miladun Nabi holiday on Friday.

“Many leakages were happening through illegal channels of hawala and hundi trade from the open market,” Khurram Schehzad, chief executive officer of Alpha Beta Core Solutions Pvt Ltd, told Bloomberg.

“When the dollar rate reverses everybody, the hoarders, the exporters who are holding their export proceeds, start selling their dollars,” Schehzad said.

The interim rulers have intensified efforts by launching a crackdown on people involved in the illegal dollar trade, allowing the currency to gain some lost ground.

The Federal Investigation Agency, Bloomberg reported, conducted raids across the country and security officials in plainclothes were deployed at money exchanges to monitor dollar sales as part of the crackdown.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar this week said the rupee’s gain is “fostering optimism for stability.”

For its part, the State Bank of Pakistan raised the capital requirements of smaller exchange companies and ordered large banks to open their own exchange companies to make the retail foreign exchange market more transparent and easier to monitor.