World Risks Third Food-Price Surge in a Decade on Record El Nino
- Nomura sees danger of phenomenon unleashing droughts, floods
- Global food demand still rising while output is constrained
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The El Nino weather pattern sweeping the globe for the first time in five years risks setting off the next great surge in world food prices after they rose to records in 2008 and 2011, according to Nomura International Ltd.
Forecasters are predicting that El Nino, characterized by ocean warming in the equatorial Pacific, may be the strongest since records began in 1950. It has already brought torrential rains to parts of South America and dryness to Southeast Asia. The Philippines said on Thursday it plans to boost rice imports to prepare for potential shortages, while Rabobank International warned that wheat crops in Australia may be under threat.