MONEY MATTERS

The fears over the drought affecting Russia and Ukraine has made the prices of meat and poultry to rise, as the price of barley has more than doubled over the past six weeks. Russia is the second largest producer of barley and the crop is used by farmers as animal feed. Already the price of wheat has gone up by 50% in Russia. Wheat is the world’s most consumed cereal and the President of Russia, has already announced that there will be no more grain export.
Australia is the fourth largest exporter of wheat and there this year’s crop may be hit by dry weather in Western Australia, which accounts for 40% of exports. Prices have also been put under pressure by very wet weather in Canada at planting time, which reduced acreage. But speculators are blamed for the rise in price of wheat and barley. Russian wheat is mainly exported to West Asia, which has access to stocks from other areas, while strong harvests are expected in Europe and the U.S. As the traders are waiting for the reports on stocks and production, some speculators have cashed in their profits.

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