GROWING DEMAND FOR BIOFUELS PUSHES UP FOOD PRICES
By Chris Flood in London 
Monday, May 28, 2007
生物燃料需求抬高糧食價格

Soft commodities are hardening. Corn, wheat, cocoa and coffee prices have all risen strongly in recent months, suggesting consumers will may be facing face an extended period of more expensive food.high prices.
軟商品價格正不斷上漲。最近幾個月，玉米、小麥、可可和咖啡價格均強勁上揚，這表明消費者將面臨一輪持久的食品價格高企時期。

今年，玉米和小麥價格已觸及10多年來最高水平，咖啡和可可價格也已分別觸及8年和4年高點。
This year, corn and wheat prices have reached their highest levels for a more than a decade, while coffee prices have hit an eight-year high and cocoa has risen to a four-year high.

分析師表示，可可和咖啡價格上漲，是由于不利天氣影響了產量，而消費在增長；而糧食價格正經歷一次結構性調整，這主要歸因于市場對生物燃料的需求日益增長。
Yet while price gains for cocoa and coffee have been driven by adverse weather affecting production during a period of rising consumption, analysts say grains prices are experiencing a structural shift, owing mainly to the growing demand for biofuels.

德意志銀行(Deutsche Bank)的邁克爾•休斯(Michael Hughes)表示：“就像能源和金屬實際價格大幅上漲一樣，糧食價格也將經歷類似趨勢。目前糧食價格仍遠低于上世紀70年代和90年代中期（經通脹調整后的）高位。”
“Just as energy and metals prices have rallied sharply in real terms, a similar fate awaits grains, which remain significantly below the [inflation adjusted] highs of the 1970s and mid-1990s,” says Michael Hughes of Deutsche Bank.

最近食品價格上揚引發了市場的擔心，即消費者的日常購物支出可能會增加，而決策者擔心不斷上漲的食品價格將導致通脹加劇。此外，由于經濟持續增長，全球食品需求正強勁增長。
Recent price strength has sparked fears that consumers could face higher bills for their weekly shopping, while policymakers are concerned that rising food prices will drive inflation higher. In addition, global food demand is rising strongly, thanks to sustained economic growth.

國際谷物理事會稱，盡管2007-08年，全球糧食產量將增長6.2%，達到創紀錄的16.66億噸，但預計食品價格仍將上漲，因為產量仍跟不上全球消費量。國際谷物理事會預測，今年全球糧食消費量將達到16.80億噸，較上年增長3.1%。
Predictions for higher prices come in spite of expectations that global grain production will rise 6.2 per cent to a record 1.666bn tonnes in 2007-08, according to the International Grains Council. However, this will not match global consumption – forecast by the IGC at 1.680bn tonnes, up 3.1 per cent on the previous year.