COMMODITY PRICE INDEX

The Economist food index gained 15% from its low in July 1999 to May this year. But since then it has turned down again. Surpluses continue to depress world prices. Bumper maize and soyabean crops have driven prices to their lowest levels for a generation. Although total wheat stocks are the lowest for 20 years, exporters hold good supplies. Coffee spiked last week after a frost in Brazil, but prices have now fallen back to seven-year lows, thanks to recent warm weather. Cocoa sank to a 27-year low in February. Threats to withhold supplies or burn beans have barely nudged prices. Coconut oil too has weakened as production picks up. The star performer has been sugar; prices have doubled since March to over ten cents a pound—the highest for more than two years—on expectations of the first supply shortfall for six years.