Global Unrest Shifts Market Focus

Greetings from England! I'm visiting 5m's sister company, FAI Farms in Oxford. 

To start, an update on the Russian food import ban…

Russia is looking to Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and China to supply its needs after launching the import ban for meat, grain, fish and some food products against the EU, US, Canada, Norway and Australia.

Over the last week, Russian authorities have approved several food processing operations in Chile and Brazil for export to the Russian Federation.

It has cancelled the bans that had been imposed on the Chilean fish processing plants. The Russia authorities have approved several plants for export largely of fish products and crustaceans.

Talks were being held with government officials from Ecuador over opening up more trade. Ecuadorean authorities have indicated that 36 companies are ready to increase supplies of fish and seafood, and another 23 companies are looking to create the mechanism to start exporting in particular milk powder, cheese, mozzarella cheese and condensed milk. Ecuador also plans to increase the supply of fruit and vegetable production.

Russia has also entered negotiations with China over potential exports of pig meat. Reports in Russia say the head of Rosselkhoznador, Sergei Dankvert, is in the process of preparing a list of Chinese companies that would be allowed to supply pork to Russia.

In Europe, the Russian embargo is starting to hit home and the European Commission took the first step of support measures for certain perishable fruits and vegetables.

To read more on Russia's food ban, click here. 

In other news…

Violence in Gaza has left agriculture, harvesting and fishing activities in disarray, causing price spikes for key food items.

The fighting in Gaza has forced farmers and herders to abandon their lands and has paralysed fishing activities, bringing local food production to a halt and severely affecting livelihoods, reports the FAO.

Fighting has resulted in substantial direct damage to Gaza's 17,000 hectares of croplands as well as much of its agricultural infrastructure, including greenhouses, irrigation systems, animal farms, fodder stocks and fishing boats.

Gaza has reportedly lost half of its population of poultry birds (broilers and layers) either due to direct hits on their shelters or lack of water, feed or care resulting from access restrictions. Around 64,000 head of small ruminants are in need of animal feed and water in order to avoid further animal deaths.

Meanwhile losses by Gaza's fishing sector so far are estimated at 234.6 tonnes over the period 9 July - 10 August - equivalent to 9.3 per cent of local fishers' yearly catch.

Food prices in Gaza have fluctuated considerably. Upward spikes have ranged from a 40 per cent increase in the price of eggs to a 42 per cent increase for potatoes to a 179 per cent spike in the price of tomatoes. 

To read more on how the Gaza violence is impacting agriculture, click here. 

Have a great week!

~Sarah