Bit of a follow-up really to my post earlier this month on the FAO World Food Price Index. I mentioned in my comment the Mexican riots a few years ago due to the lack of corn for tortillas (sounds like a joke!) but this week a 'spell of unusually cold weather' in northern Mexico has severely damaged the maize crop' loses estimated to be over 10 percent of the country's annual harvest (maybe as high 16 percent) [BBC]. This, added to the drought disaster that could see 30% of Argentina's crop lost and the US Corn Reserves now lower than at any point in the last 15 years (despite last year's corn production being the third largest crop in U.S. history) and added to China's wheat woes (scroll down this article) after severe droughts in key wheat growing areas is all increasing the worries: prices going higher still and global reserves and supplies dwindling. Interesting times?
Update Monday 14th: talk of the Devil: Food 'panic' tests world [Link]
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