Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to attach the latest AP Weekly Price Monitor (13 August) that reports price information from the second week of August. This, and previous issues can be downloaded from http://www.foodsecuritylink.net/ To subscribe, please send us an email to AP-Weekly-Price-Monitor@fao.org or see the instructions below.
From August 2012, AP Weekly Price Monitor team has adjusted the criteria to flag unusual price movements:
- In weekly basis, nominal price variations below 5 percent are considered “stable”
- In a monthly basis, nominal price variations below 10 percent are considered “stable”
- In an annual basis, nominal price variations below 25 percent are considered “stable”
These modifications are also reflected in the price and policy section, as well as the monthly highlights.
Over the past week, staple food commodity prices remained relatively stable in most countries except for the following:
- In Fiji, corn prices fell by 22 percent during the first week of August, which reflects recent supply normalization in local markets, after an eight week period of no supply of corn in the markets. Cassava and dalo-tausala prices (root crops) increased by 46 and 25 percent, respectively, over the first week of August. These variations are mainly caused by a sustained low supply in local markets.
- Rice prices in Viet Nam fell by 8 percent over the past week but have remained relatively stable from levels observed a month and a year ago.
Under national policy highlights, in India, the central government has submitted a “Plan B” to the parliamentary standing committee for consideration on the expansion of the Food Security Bill coverage from 63.5 to 67 percent of the population. The original bill suggested giving 7 kg grains per person per month to a household belonging to the priority category and 3 kg per person per month to a household belonging to the general category, while the “plan B” proposes a food grain quota of 5 kg per person per month for the entire 67% population. The new plan also suggests giving states the power to identify beneficiaries according to their own criteria, ruling out any difference with the central government in this regard.
Regarding weather conditions, despite flooding across the Irrawaddy delta due to heavy rain, drought has hit central Myanmar destroying the crops of farmers in Mandalay Division. The recent outbreak of armyworms in major grain producing regions in northern and north-eastern China has posed a severe threat to the production of corn and rice in the country. To date, at least 2 million hectares of autumn crops nationwide have been affected by the outbreaks in Hebei, Jilin, Liaoning, Heilongjiang and Shanxi provinces, as well as in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Beijing and Tianjin municipalities. The Ministry of Agriculture in India has prepared District Contingency Plans for 320 districts in response to the uneven monsoon situation, such as a Diesel Subsidy Scheme, whose objective is to mitigate the hardships of small and marginal farmers by saving the standing crops (Press Information Bureau, 14 August 2012).
With best regards,
AP Weekly Price Monitor
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