Global food prices continue rising – USA

Food prices climbed 1.2% in October according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), driven mainly by increases in sugar and dairy prices. The index has risen throughout 2016 except for a brief dip in July. Sugar climbed 3.4%, dairy prices rose 3.9%, meat prices dropped 1%, while cereal prices rose 1%.

Wheat supply to surge – Russia

Wheat supplies are expected to reach 746.7m tonnes, a 4.3m tonne rise above the FAO’s October forecast. The increase is driven by record wheat production in Russia, which has offset the expected decline in Brazil, the EU and US from weather-induced troubles. US farmers are scaling back their area of planted wheat, due to lower prices and a stronger dollar.

Traders shy away from Egyptian grain tenders – Egypt

Grain trading companies have shied away from Egypt’s latest wheat tender event over fears the country’s currency will decline further. Since last week, the Egyptian pound has halved in value against the US dollar, making grain traders unwilling to deal with the world’s largest wheat importer.

Grain harvest slower than 2015 – Australia

The Australian grain harvest is coming in much slower than last year, according to grain handling group GrainCorp. The company said grain deliveries from farmers are about three weeks behind compared with the 2015 harvest, although the group does expect a 3.3m tonne increase in barley, wheat and chickpea production to almost 21m tonnes in 2016.