Ahead of general elections due in 2014, the Indian federal government has given its approval to a sweeping Food Security Bill (FSB), which guarantees the ‘right to access’ of grains for more than 60% of the country’s 1.2bn population. While there is a chance that the Bill may be challenged at the voting stage –… [Read more]
After a volatile year and a seemingly robust start to 2012, Mark Schaltuper, Head of Europe Country Risk & Financial Markets, asked Business Monitor’s Commodities team what the outlook for commodities is for the remainder of the year. John Davies, Ed Coughlan and Ophelie Buchet share their views on the upside potential for the commodity… [Read more]
Monetary data out of China released over the past week have bolstered investor sentiment. Chinese CPI (consumer price index) continued to fall in December 2011, coming in at a 15-month low of 4.1% y-o-y (compared with the 6.5% high registered in June), while producer price inflation was subdued at just 1.7%. Such disinflation raises hope… [Read more]
BMI sees strong potential for agricultural machinery sales in emerging markets in the coming years, as relatively strong growth prospects, high commodity prices and available credit drive sales. For the US, the single largest user of agricultural machinery, we see potential for some increase in sales towards the end of 2011, but we do not… [Read more]
As part of recent US legislation aiming to reduce volatility in markets, and in the shadow of the 2007 spike in commodity prices, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has approved new caps on the extent of speculative activity in commodity markets. BMI sees both advantages and pitfalls to the policy. The financialisation of commodities… [Read more]
Our focus this week is on the Indian monsoon, which remains a significant and unpredictable factor in determining the country’s agricultural performance, as well as that of headline inflation and economic growth. We only have to look back to the miserable monsoon of 2009, which triggered the worst drought in almost 40 years, to see… [Read more]
Much has been made over the potential impact of recent events in Japan on international rice markets. Given the importance of rice as a staple in Asia and increasing concern over food price inflation in emerging markets, this is of particular relevance. Japan, normally self-sufficient in rice, has seen swathes of coastal farmland devastated by… [Read more]
