September 8, 2010

 

UN criticises grain export curbs

 

 

The United Nations condemned grain export bans for fuelling market volatility and raising food prices.

 

Hafez Ghanem, an assistant director-general at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, declined to criticise Russia directly for the export curbs imposed in August, following a drought in what was the world's third-ranked wheat shipper in 2009-10.

 

However, he condemned bans for stoking market instability and raising food prices for importing countries, many of which are poorer nations, while also hurting producers in the country imposing the ban, which were left unable to exploit higher international prices.

 

Ghanem's comments came in an internal UN interview in which he urged a tightening of regulation on futures markets to "limit any adverse impacts" from speculation. "In the years ahead, we'll probably be seeing more of the turbulence we're in now," he said.

 

"We need to find ways of assuring a fluid and international trade in food products," he said.

 

Meanwhile, Ukraine's traders' union, the UZA, warned that customs officials had blocked the departure of 24 vessels carrying nearly 380,000 tonnes of grain without official explanations.

 

"Some of the ships have been in port for more than one-and-a-half months," the union said

 

Ukraine has delayed an official decision on its exports strategy following weather damage to its grain crop, with its scope for action limited by World Trade Organisation membership in its scope for unilateral trade measures.

 

However, some observers have accused officials of imposing a de facto ban by, for instance, imposing unexplained crop checks.

 

Analysis group UkrAgroConsult on Tuesday (Sep 7) cut by 3.1 million tonnes to 16.7 million tonnes its estimate for Ukraine's grain exports in 2010-11, including a 1.1 million-tonne reduction, to just under six million tonnes, in the forecast for wheat shipments.

 

UkrAgroConsult also said it was cutting again, by some 700,000 tonnes, its estimate for Ukraine's grain harvest, which is now on track to slide by 12.6% on-year to 39.7 million tonnes.