Milling & Baking News - April 15, 2014 - 32

International 

Russia, in effort to mark its
grain status, enters aid pact
LONDON - The Russian Federation
has become a member of the Food
Assistance Convention of the International Grains Agreement, committing
to provide $15 million of food assistance annually. Russia thus becomes
the ninth country or bloc committing
to the convention. While obviously a
move to assert Russia's role as a major grain exporter, its pledge contrasts
with the U.S. commitment totaling
$1.6 billion.
At the $15 million level, Russia's
food aid pledge is the third smallest of
member parties, ahead of only Austria,
€1,495,000 ($2 million) and Finland's €6
million ($8.1 million) only less. Other
Food Aid Convention commitments
are: Canada, C$250 million; Denmark,
DKK185 million; European Union,
€300 million; Japan, JPY10 billion; Switzerland, 34 million Swiss francs.

In entering into its commitment in
an effort that has been under way for
decades, the Russian Cabinet issued
this statement:
"Russia's participation in the convention will emphasize its status as a
donor country and confirm its intention to fulfill decisions taken on providing assistance in ensuring global
food security and the fight against
hunger in the world."
Membership in the Food Assistance Convention is open to all countries able to provide food assistance.
Each member determines its annual
food aid commitment in terms of
money or in quantities to be shipped
as aid. A long series of such conventions have been operated under the
auspices of the International Grains
Council, beginning in 1967. The current Food Assistance Convention

F.A.O. Food Price Index hits
highest level since May 2013
ROME - The Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations
said the F.A.O. Food Price Index was
212.8 in March, up 4.6 points, or 2.3%,
from February, and its highest level
since May 2013.
"Last month's increase was largely
driven by unfavorable weather conditions affecting some crops and geopolitical tensions in the Black Sea region," the F.A.O. said. "Overall, except
for the F.A.O. Dairy Price Index, which
fell for the first time in four months,
all the other commodity price indices
registered gains, with sugar and cereals increasing the most."
The F.A.O. Cereal Price Index was at
205.8 points in March, up 5.2%, or 10
points, from 195.8 points in February.
It was the index's highest value since
August 2013, but still ranked well below its value of 234.8 in March 2013.
"Last month's strength stemmed
from a surge in wheat and maize
prices reflecting a strong pace in grain
imports, growing concerns over the
effect of continued dryness in the
south-central United States on winter
wheat crops, and unfavorable weather in parts of Brazil," the F.A.O. said.
"Geopolitical tensions in the Black
Sea region, in particular uncertainties
with regard to grain shipments from
Ukraine, also provided a boost. Rice
32 / April 15, 2014 Milling & Baking News

prices were generally stable."
The Meat Price Index averaged 185
points, up 2.7 points from 182.3 points
in February, reflecting higher bovine
meat prices, which were associated
with dry weather conditions affecting
production in both
Australia and the
United States. Prices
for pigmeat also rose,
the F.A.O. said, in part
on concerns over the
effect of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus
on export supplies
in the United States.
Prices of poultry and
ovine meat were only
slightly stronger.
The Dairy Price Index averaged 268.5 points, down 6.9
points from February. The F.A.O. said
demand for all dairy products has
been affected by reduced purchases by
China and uncertainty over trade with
the Russian Federation. The dairy
commodity subject to the sharpest
price drop was whole milk powder, reflecting reduced buying interest from
China, in particular, the F.A.O. noted.
The Sugar Price Index averaged
253.9 points in March, up 18.5 points
from 235.4 points in February.
"Sugar prices kept strengthening

replaced the Food Aid Convention
expiring in 1999.
The current convention, like its predecessors, aims "to save lives, reduce
hunger, improve food security and
improve the nutritional status of the
most vulnerable populations."
Those goals are to be achieved by
the following actions:
Addressing the food and nutritional needs of the most vulnerable by
the convention parties providing food
assistance that improves access to, and
consumption of, adequate, safe and
nutritious food.
Ensuring that the aid provided is
appropriate, timely, effective, efficient,
and is based on needs and shared
principles.
Facilitating information-sharing,
cooperation and coordination, while
providing a forum for discussing the
best ways to respond to these needs.
The present Food Assistance
Convention entered into force as of
Jan. 1, 2013. MBN
amid concerns of declining export
availabilities from Brazil and Thailand, due to drought and reduced
sugarcane output, respectively," the
F.A.O. said. "The likelihood of sugar
crops being adversely affected by El
Niño later this year also contributed to
the price surge."
The Vegetable Oil Price Index was
204.8 points in March, up 7 points
from February, driven primarily by a
surge in palm oil.
Additionally,
tight
inventories in Malaysia and the prospect
of rising domestic
consumption in Indonesia, the top palm
oil producer and exporter, contributed
to the strengthening
in palm oil values, as
did reports about a
possible El Niño weather event later
this year, the F.A.O. said. International prices for soy, sunflower and rape
seed oil also firmed, the agency noted.
The Food Price Index consists of
the average of five commodity group
price indices weighted with the average export shares of each of the groups
for 2002-04. In total, 73 commodity
quotations considered by F.A.O. commodity specialists as representing the
international prices of the food commodities are included in the overall
index. MBN
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Milling & Baking News - April 15, 2014

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