Archive for March 7th, 2011

FAO says food prices hit record high

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S. — The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Food Price Index hit a new record high in February, driven mostly by higher prices of cereals, meat and dairy products, the agency said on March 2.

The index rose for the eighth consecutive month, averaging 236 points in February, up 2.2% from January and the highest since January 1990, when the index started.

With the exception of sugar, prices of all other commodity groups monitored registered gains ...

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Bakers oppose ethanol subsidies

WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S. — The American Bakers Association, together with 89 other organizations, has written a letter to congressional leaders, calling for an end to the refundable Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC).

The group also urged the U.S. Congress to “resist calls for spending on infrastructure for conventional biofuels.”

“In particular, Congress has the opportunity to end the $6 billion a year subsidy to gasoline refiners who blend corn ethanol into gasoline,” the group said. “At a time of spiraling deficits, ...

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Russia may extend grain export ban to end of year

TAMBOV, RUSSIA — According to news reports, First Deputy Prime Viktor Zubkov said on March 2 that Russia may extend its ban on grain exports scheduled to expire at the end of June for the rest of this year.

No decision has been made yet, he told reporters in the central Russian city of Tambov. The government will look at considerations including having “good carry-over stocks to be able to have a grain intervention fund again” before deciding on the measure, ...

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