ÁREAS TEMÁTICAS

Agronegocios y Agroenergía

Noticias del mercado argentino y mundial de biocombustibles

UE - Biocombustibles y alimentos: análisis de la Asociación Europea de Bioindustrias (en inglés)
13 de marzo de 2008

Introduction

Recent price increases in corn and wheat have cascaded in the food chain resulting in a price increase in foods (pasta, bread, milk, meat), which was swiftly attributed to increased biofuels production. While it is true that the price of agricultural raw materials has risen, the alleged impact of biofuels on food price is disproportionate and a number of factors, including bad harvests in Australia and Ukraine in 2007 and an increased demand for meat in developing countries are responsible.

1. Are biofuels causing food prices to rise?

It is important to note that the current prices of wheat and corn are not unprecedented. Previous peaks were not due to biofuels and did not create a food crisis or dramatic increase in food price. In the past 30 years, the price of corn price went above $3/bushel ($120/tonne) in 1981, ‘83, and ‘95 for reasons totally unrelated to bioethanol production, which was virtually nonexistent before 2001, and fell back after one or two years.

Globally, world meat production has increased by around 65% during the last 20 years, increasing the demand for feed. For the production of 1 kg of meat on average at least 3 kg of cereals are needed. Meat consumption increase is most acute in Indian and China; as the wealth of a country increases, the demand for meat and dairy products tends to increase. Meat consumption in China alone increased from 27 to 59 kilogram per person per year between 1990 and 2005. Each additional kilogram increase on average in China results in a need for roughly 3 million tonnes of animal feed2. This has been the one of the largest drivers of the rising price for cereals on the world market.

The price tension on the market created by high demand was reinforced in the past years by poor harvests and record oil prices. According to the FAO, much of the poor performance of world agriculture in 2006 was due to disappointing cereal production, which fell for the second consecutive year as a result of poor weather conditions. The cereal harvest was especially poor in Australia and the United States where it fell by 60% and 7% respectively. Production was also down in the European Union, Canada, Argentina and South Africa. Additionally, between 2003 and 2008, the price of oil has increased from 25$ to 100$ per barrel, heavily impacting agriculture production, processing and transportation costs.

These factors that would typically not converge on any one year have created a temporary volatility in food prices. Experts expect the price to stabilise. Ms Fischer Boel4, EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Fisheries has stressed that the increase in food prices is not only due to agricultural prices. Cereals, for example, only make up around 4 per cent of the consumer price of bread.

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Fuente: EuropaBio