Food prices hit new high, grains to get costly

Rome, January 5, 2011

Global food prices rose to a fresh high in December and the prices of corn, wheat and other grains can go much higher, said the United Nations' food agency Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Wednesday.

'We are concerned, the real reason for concern is the unpredictability, mainly the current weather patterns,' the Food and Agriculture Organisation's economist Abdolreza Abbassian said in a interview.

'There is still room for prices to go up much higher, if for example the dry conditions in Argentina tend to become a drought, and if we start having problems with winterkill in the northern hemisphere for the wheat crops,' he said.

Winterkill occurs when cold attacks plants seeded, generally in the autumn, for harvesting the following year.

Abbassian added that despite high prices, many factors that triggered food riots in 2007/08, such as weak production in poor countries and a sudden surge in crude oil prices, were not currently present, reducing the risk of more turmoil.-Reuters

Tags: UN agency | Food prices | Grains | Food and Agriculture Organisation |