(
)
Corn prices are soaring on lower crop reports, sending inflationary worries clear up the food chain.
Prices are on the rise again for bread, breakfast cereal and beefsteaks as agricultural futures reached two-year highs, due, in part, to a weakening dollar.
Corn led the farm rally as distillers earmarked nearly one of every 10 bushels here for ethanol gas-tank additives. The A-maizing crop was up 26.1 percent in September alone as reported in the latest producer price index released yesterday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Surging corn costs for cattle feed also boosted steak prices at the butcher by 7.6 percent last month from August, the report said.
On the upside, the weak greenback is making US beef and other commodities cheaper than rivals’ exports for the first time, in some instances. US exports of beef are expected to soar 17 percent in 2010, thanks to dollar-pricing breakthroughs in Japan and other Asian markets.
“The weaker US dollar makes US products relatively cheaper and more attractive in Japan, particularly in light of the Australian dollar, the primary competitor to US beef in Asia,” said a new Department of Agriculture report on the nation’s growing strength from food exports.
Among other consumer staples sending sticker shocks ahead in the food-pricing chain include sugar, now at a nine-month high, and cocoa, up 5 percent in trading this week.
With the greenback at a 15-year low against the yen and sagging against other major currencies, gold continued its record-setting pace yesterday to close at another new high of $1,376.70 an ounce, up $7.10.
Crude slipped 32 cents a barrel here to $82.69 a barrel, while wholesale gasoline dropped 2.69 cents a gallon to $2.1365. Natural gas dropped 3.9 cents to settle at $3.657 per 1,000 cubic feet.