No quick relief on food prices
AUSTRALIA - The drought is hitting food prices, but analysts are warning consumers that there is worse to come in the months ahead as supplies of milk, vegetables and grains tighten.
25 January 2007
1 minute read
The December quarter consumer price index, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday, revealed a 0.5 per cent rise in food prices in the quarter, led by the increased cost of vegetables (up 4.1 per cent), bread (up 1.8 per cent), cakes and biscuits (up 2 per cent). The cost of food increased by 8.6 per cent from the December quarter 2005 to the same quarter last year.
"Overall for the year, the increase is incredibly significant," said St Vincent de Paul Society spokesman Gavin Dufty.
"In the next quarter, food is going to go a bit ballistic (because of the drought) and I think you'll see it wash through in milk because you need good-quality fodder with dairy cattle and that's becoming harder because of the drought," he said.
"You will also see a rise in beef and veal because the stock has been sold off now and supplies will be low." But the ABS data was not bad news for everyone.
Source: The Age
