News

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…

New rules help South Korea’s housing market

Policy makers have stepped up plans to stimulate the real estate market and entice more buyers after the country registered tentative demands and want to prevent further wavering domestic growth. The debt-to income ratio, which monitors the type of mortgage loan imposed by banks, is due to be incremented to meet the needs of borrowers,…

World braced for global food shortages

In the last five months, the US has lost around 100m tonnes of crops, predominately in South America and the US grain belt, an area which has been struggling with over 37.C degree (100F) temperatures. Maize prices have risen by 40 percent and soya bean by 25 percent. These crops are then converted into other…