Compared to 12 months ago, during the peak of the international food crisis, staple food items in Nepal have continued to increase steadily. During the past 12 month period, the price of blackgram has increased by 21 percent, musuro by 30 percent, potato by 50 percent, rice by 3 percent and wheat flour by 6 percent. Only the price of cooking oil has reduced – by around 15 percent. The price of food during this year’s Dasain holiday was much higher compared to previous years. The price of chicken was on average 40 percent higher than last year, mutton was also generally more expensive, the price of key vegetables such as cauliflower, potato and onion were typically more than 50 percent higher than last year and sugar was up by over 45 percent. As a result of Nepal’s export ban on lentils, the price of musuro decreased by approximately 2.5 percent during September. The export ban has reduced demand pressure within Nepal as the majority of lentils produced are normally exported abroad. However, there are claims by producers that decreased income from lentils sales may lead to reduce future levels of production. Late monsoon rain has led to flash floods and landslides in districts in Western Nepal. The flooding has caused localised crop damage and has blocked parts of the Karnali Highway and other trails hindering food supply to many Western Hill and Mountain district Various Mountain and Hill markets have insufficient stock as a result of poor winter production and disruptions in commodity movement because of the monsoon. Markets in Dolakha, Sindhupalchok, Dailekh and Jajarkot are particularly affected. Poor household winter crop production has both increased demand for purchased product and reduced local supply to markets. This has led to price increases and insufficient supply. The price of coarse rice is expected to further increase across the region during the coming months due to large scale local and regional crop losses. It is anticipated that post harvest prices will remain high and then significantly increase during the first half of 2010. Preliminary reports estimate India has lost 3 million tons of paddy in recent flooding. Other estimated paddy losses in the region include: Vietnam at 100,000 tons, Pakistan 300,000 tons and the Philippines 500,000 tons. Rice stockpiles of the world’s five largest rice exporters - Thailand, Vietnam, the U.S., Pakistan and India - are forecast to plunge to the lowest level in five years.The government of Nepal has indicated the need to import 400,000 tons of grain to meet the deficit caused by Nepal’s winter drought and late monsoon. However, reduced regional stocks are likely to significantly increase the cost of grain imports. In addition, the Indian border districts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have been declared drought induced disaster areas by the Indian Government. As food stocks decline in these areas there may be a resulting outflow of food grains from the Terai of Nepal to India which could further deteriorate Nepal’s supply situation.
#MarketWatch #MarketDevelopment #PriceIncrease
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Publisher:
WFP, MOAC, FNCCI, CIPF
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(2009
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Type / Script:
Bulletin or Poster
in English
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Keywords:
MARKET WATCH, NATIONAL MARKET DEVELOPMENTS, MARKET, COMMODITIES, LARGEST CHANGE, PRICE, SUPPLY, PRICE INCREASE, NATURAL DISASTER, IMPORT, EXPORT
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Thematic Group:
WFP
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Food and Emergency humanitarian logistict support
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Thesaurus:
02.02.00
- Economic Conditions
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Reference Link:
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