Jessica Lim, Straits Times 27 Feb 08;
SINGAPORE importers say they expect flour prices to increase within the next two weeks or so.
Industry players contacted by The Straits Times say the price surge overseas has not filtered down to Singapore yet, but it is only a matter of time before it does.
Prices of flour-based items - bread, noodles and cakes - are likely to head north as well, unless retailers decide to absorb the increases.
According to Singapore Bakery and Confectionery Trade Association chairman Liow Kian Huat, the last big wheat price increase occurred in November.
That led to an $8.50 hike in the price of a 25kg bag of flour, a rise of about 25 per cent. This led to some bakeries and confectionaries increasing their prices by about 20 cents for a loaf of bread.
Singapore imports about 150,000 tonnes of wheat a year from countries such as the United States, Australia and Canada.
Wheat prices surge 25% in biggest one-day jump
Straits Times 27 Feb 08;
Latest increase is triggered by major exporter Kazakhstan's move to curb sales abroad
NEW YORK - WHEAT prices have jumped by 25 per cent in their largest one-day increase, adding to concerns over spiralling food prices and tightening global supplies.
The prices shot up after Kazakhstan, one of the largest exporters, said it would slow grain exports by imposing customs duties.
On Sunday, Kazakhstan's Agriculture Ministry said the country has sold about 75 per cent of its wheat and will impose export tarrifs on what is left - about 110 million bushels - to curb sales.
'In a normal year, 110 million bushels wouldn't be a big deal but, with tight supplies like you have, it's a chunk of wheat,' said Mr Jason Ward, analyst with Northstar Commodities in Minneapolis.
Kazakhstan's move, which follows similar export restrictions in Russia and Argentina, is likely to put further pressure on already tight global wheat supplies, Financial Times reported on Monday.
Prices of top quality wheat have surged to historic highs as bad weather has battered crop after crop around the globe, most recently in India and Canada.
Global supplies also fell after drought hurt plants in Australia and excessive rain curbed yields in France and Germany.
Relentless demand for agricultural products from fast-growing countries, including China and India, has exacerbated the supply crunch for wheat, which has more than doubled in price since last year.
Food prices, as a whole, rose 40 per cent last year because of rising demand and other factors, according to a BBC report.
The impact has been felt around the world. Food riots have broken out in Morocco, Yemen, Mexico, Guinea, Mauritania, Senegal and Uzbekistan, The Guardian reported yesterday.
Pakistan has reintroduced rationing for the first time in two decades. Russia has frozen the price of milk, bread, eggs and cooking oil for six months. Thailand is also planning a freeze on food staples.
After protests around Indonesia, Jakarta has increased public food subsidies. India has banned the export of rice except the high-quality basmati variety.
And on Monday, the United Nations said it was considering plans to ration food aid, partly because of rising prices.
The higher wheat prices may not affect US consumers immediately since big food companies such as Kellogg, General Mills and Kraft Foods typically protect themselves from price volatility with long-term supply contracts.
But analysts say consumers should eventually expect higher prices to work themselves into the grocery aisle.
'In May or June you're going to start seeing some ramifications of these prices,' said Mr Ward.
ASSOCIATED PRESS, BLOOMBERG
