Global food prices rise amid Ukraine and Iran conflicts

Food manufacturers in Europe have begun raising wholesale prices again after two years of cuts, citing higher costs for wheat, maize and barley driven by the war in Ukraine, the conflict with Iran and related disruptions in the Black Sea grain shipments. According to the latest industrial price index, prices rose 0.5% in April, 0.4% in May and 0.2% in July, while futures show maize up 26.2% and wheat up 14.3% since February.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s chief economist, Maximo Torero, warned that the combination of the Ukraine and Iran wars, higher oil and natural‑gas prices, fertilizer shortages and El Niño‑related weather will push commodity prices higher and trigger a new wave of food‑price inflation by the end of the year. He noted that the price transmission to consumers takes three to six months and that the impact is already being felt in Europe, the United States, Brazil and Asia. In the United States, the Farm Bureau estimates that without federal aid farmers could lose $32 billion by 2027 as many crops remain below breakeven.