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Austraila. Retail bread, flour safe as grain prices surge, says GrainCorp
09.08.2010 11:37 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
THE surging grain price will have little effect on the cost of flour or bread for Australias retail consumers, GrainCorp said today.
«In a Western market like Australia, you dont see volatility in commodity prices transferred through to the consumer end, like you may see in some of the less developed countries,» said David Ginns, corporate affairs manager at GrainCorp.
Retailers manage price fluctuations of goods through relationships with the producer of the goods, who in turn manages price fluctuations with the supplier of raw materials, Mr Ginns said.
The commodity-price surge in 2007 and 2008 didnt materially change retail prices of bread, pasta and noodles because of these «internal shock absorbers», although margins are squeezed, he said.
«The whole idea is to keep consumers consuming,» he said.
GrainCorp holds a 60 per cent stake in Allied Mills, Australias largest miller of flour for human consumption, and Cargill Australia holds the remaining 40 per cent.
US wheat futures prices soared yesterday to two-year highs after Russia said it would ban grain exports due to a severe drought, in a move that heightened concerns about global supplies and the subsequent impact on food prices.
Nearby September wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade a primary driver of Australian prices went limit-up overnight, rising US60 cents, or 8.3 per cent, to $US7.8575 a bushel, the highest level since August 29, 2008; the nearby CBOT contract jumped nearly 85 per cent from a nine-month low in June because of expectations that demand for US wheat will increase.
Yesterday, the most active ASX milling wheat deliverable January in NSW jumped $19 to $298.50/metric tonne, up 44 per cent from a late June low, while ASX milling wheat deliverable January in Western Australia rose $17.50 to $311.50.
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