Back in June 2014, who would have thought a barrel of Brent crude oil could fall from its price at the time of more than $110/barrel in the space of just 18 months to a price of less than $28/barrel as we saw at the start of this year.

The dramatic plunge in the oil market has spurred a wave of uncertainty in the global economy not seen since the financial crisis. The first cracks of uncertainty appeared in August 2015, when the Chinese stock market plunged 8.5% in a single day – its biggest fall since 2007.

The rout in China, or Black Monday as it became known, sent tremors across the globe that triggered massive sell-offs in European and US markets. More than £60bn in equity value was wiped off the London FTSE alone.

While markets slowly recovered some of the losses over the following months, the event left many investors wondering was this the start of a new phase of crisis in the global economy. Markets reached December in a relatively stable condition but the turn of the year brought on a new wave of turmoil.

Another set of weaker than expected economic and manufacturing data from China, coupled with oil prices dropping to a 13-year low, once again sent investors scrambling for cover. The FTSE in London entered definitive bear market territory after falling 20% from its peak in April 2015.

As economic growth in China slowed and other emerging economies stopped growing altogether, markets began to question where the global demand was going to come from, particularly as the European economy continued to stall.

This feeling of uncertainty that persists among global policymakers and business leaders has facilitated the significant volatility we have seen for much of the year to date.

In the first part of this year’s report, we examine how the current uncertainty in the global economy is affecting trade. We assess how the transitioning of the Chinese economy away from heavy infrastructural investment towards greater domestic consumption has brought to an end the decade-long commodity supercycle.

We look at how Russia, following the trade embargo it placed on western food imports in 2014, is again trying to expand its agriculture sector in a bid to feed its population of more than 143m people.

We also look specifically at the US dairy sector and how it has managed to insulate itself and its dairy farmer suppliers better than most from the outside volatility in the global markets. Despite global dairy markets being on their knees, US farmers have managed their risk from the volatility in a way European or New Zealand farmers have been unable to do thanks to a number of supports from the US government.

And from a political perspective, the report examines the uncertainty created on our own shores here in Ireland as we edge closer to the UK referendum on its membership of the European Union. The upcoming vote has left the business sector in the UK, Ireland and continental Europe in a position of considerable uncertainty as to what a Brexit could mean for trade.

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To read the full Agribusiness report, click here.