U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Mike Rounds on Thursday introduced a bipartisan resolution asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate beef companies for potential price fixing. It is the latest effort by politicians to hold meat companies accountable for high food prices, which critics blame in part on U.S. beef production being controlled by just four large companies.
U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Mike Rounds on Thursday introduced a bipartisan resolution asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate beef companies for potential price fixing. It is the latest effort by politicians to hold meat companies accountable for high food prices, which critics blame in part on U.S. beef production being controlled by just four large companies.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia on Thursday of using food as a weapon in Ukraine by holding "hostage" the food supply for not just millions of Ukrainians, but also millions around the world who rely on Ukrainian exports. Addressing the United Nations Security Council, Blinken appealed to Russia to stop blockading Ukrainian ports.
- Moscow said on Thursday that sanctions on Russia would have to be reviewed if it were to heed a U.N. appeal to open access to Ukraine's Black Sea ports so that grain could be exported, according to an Interfax news agency report.
Indonesia will lift its palm oil export ban from Monday, May 23, following improvements in the domestic cooking oil supply situation, President Joko Widodo said on Thursday.
-China has removed a three-year restriction on imports of Canadian canola seed, Canadian officials said in a statement on Wednesday that didn't provide a reason for the lifting of curbs, but trade is likely to be limited by low stocks and high prices. China, the world's top oilseed buyer, suspended two Canadian canola exporters in March 2019, alleging that pests had been detected in shipments.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that he is in "intense contact" with Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, the United States and the European Union to try and restore Ukrainian grain shipments and revive Russian fertilizer exports. "I am hopeful, but there is still a way to go," he told a food security meeting at the United Nations hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
- The war in Ukraine and drought fuelled by climate change has sent global prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel and fertilizer soaring. Rising prices for basic food staples is fuelling protests from Indonesia to Iran. European wheat prices have jumped 74% and benchmark palm oil futures went up 24% since January.
The World Bank said on Wednesday it will make $30 billion available to help stem a food security crisis threatened by Russia's war in Ukraine, which has cut off most grain exports from the two countries.
- Two major British pub operators on Wednesday warned that expenses stemming from the Russia-Ukraine war and the cost of living crisis would crimp their profits, suggesting a tough year ahead for an industry still recovering from the pandemic.
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