Author Archives: Darren Marchal

Rise in grain prices leads to fear for food

A sharp rise in grain prices is reverberating around the world as nations face food inflation. There has been a 30-50 percent gain in the benchmark price of corn, wheat and soyabeans, are echoing the 2007/8 food crisis. Countries likely to face the biggest repercussions are those dependant on agricultural imports. The Indonesian tofu industry…

Taiwanese economy shrinks

Taiwan’s economy has contracted in the second quarter by 0.16 percent, according to official data. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected it to grow by as much as 0.5 percent. “With deteriorating of European debt crisis and slowdown in major economies, the global demand is expected to decelerate and the outlook of world trade in…

Record high for Spanish unemployment

Spain’s unemployment rate has risen once again to 24.6 percent in the three months to June, despite a small decline at the beginning of the summer attributed to temporary positions linked to the holiday trade, according to the National Statistic Institute. Half of those under the age of 26 and available for work are unemployed,…

Weak ore prices hit Vale profit

Brazilian iron ore giant Vale has reported a quarterly drop in net income of 59 percent as slow growth in China has affected iron ore prices. Further foreign exchange losses were triggered by a weak Brazilian real. The world’s largest iron ore miner has recorded a second quarter net income of $2.66bn, equivalent to 52…