‘During risk-off periods in markets, the prices of all products tend to move lower. When price carnage hits markets, rationality takes a holiday,’ said analyst Andrew Hecht.
The world’s third largest cocoa processor Olam has agreed to pay a fine of $3m for alleged mistrading of cocoa futures but has refused to admit wrongdoing.
Low coffee demands, surplus cocoa stocks, rising sugar prices and a geographical shift in the wheat market, are just a few points raised by Euromonitor’s senior food analyst in its monthly GlobalCast.
A new report from the World Development Movement (WDM) links financial speculation to the rising cost of foods, and calls for effective regulation to curb banks betting on food prices in financial markets.
The German confectionery industry has expressed concern over the fluctuation in the price of its key raw ingredient, cocoa, as a result of speculation.
Turmoil in the global financial markets could, ironically, offer relief to prices in the commodity exchanges, where leading confectioners lock in key raw materials for their formulations, with evidence this week suggesting a wave of non-commercial speculators...
The global commodity market continues to worry confectionery and
sugar firms, as AB Foods profit is dented by sugar reforms, Nestle
combats costs with price hikes, and Cadbury may be ripe for
takeover.
Fonterra, New Zealand's largest dairy co-operative, predicted world
commodity prices would continue rebounding strongly over the next
few months as supply and demand tightened.
Cocoa traders have predicted that cocoa prices are set to increase.
The price of the commodity has dropped by up to 40 per cent since
touching a 16-year high in October 2002.
