Top 10 hedge funds made £1.5bn profit from Ukraine war food price spike
Analysis raises questions over role of speculators in inflating food prices amid global cost of living crisis
Food speculation
Record profits for grain firms amid food crisis prompt calls for windfall tax
Sales at world’s top four traders have soared, raising concerns of profiteering and speculation
Companies at the centre of the global grain trade have enjoyed a record bonanza amid soaring food prices around the world, raising concerns of profiteering and speculation in global food markets that could put staples beyond the reach of the poorest, and prompting calls for a windfall tax.
The world’s top four grain traders, which have dominated the global grain market for decades – have seen record or near-record profits or sales. They are forecasting demand to outstrip supply at least until 2024, which is likely to lead to even higher sales and profits in the next two years.
The fact that global commodity giants are making record profits at a time when hunger is rising is clearly unjust, and is a terrible indictment of our food systems. What’s even worse, these companies could have done more to prevent the hunger crisis in the first place.”
Four companies – the Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus, known collectively as ABCD – control an estimated 70-90% of the global grain trade. “Global grain markets are even more concentrated than energy markets and even less transparent, so there is a huge risk of profiteering,” said De Schutter.
He said this year’s food price surge happened despite what are thought to be abundant global grain reserves, but there was insufficient transparency from the companies to show how much grain they hold and no way to force them to release stocks in a timely way.
We need to be looking at the grain giants and asking what they could have done to avert the crisis, and what they could be doing now,” De Schutter said.
“[The big agrifood companies] are clearly capitalising on the reduced supply and increased demand, further exacerbated by commodity trading,” she said. “When supply is significantly lower than demand, it gives space for price increase. But this is also exacerbated by speculative stock markets, since wheat and other commodities are traded on stock markets and therefore prices fluctuate.”
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Niger : vers une crise nutritionnelle de grande ampleur
Diminution des récoltes due à la sécheresse, insécurité croissante dans certaines zones du pays et impact de la covid-19 laissent présager une situation nutritionnelle critique pour 2022 au Niger. MSF travaille en appui au ministère de la Santé nigérien pour fournir des services médico-nutritionnels dans la région de Maradi, plus exactement dans le district de Madarounfa, frontalier avec le Nigeria. Interview avec Isabelle Defourny, directrice des opérations, de retour du terrain.