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Corn hits high after US floods
16.06.08
The price of corn hit new records today as floods damaged crops in the US, the world's largest producer and exporter, increasing fears consumers could be hit by further rises in food costs.
Soybean, meanwhile, rose to a three-month high.
The Midwest floods were some of the worst since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, David Paulison, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said.
The US Department of Agriculture said last week that America's corn stockpiles may fall 53% to a 13-year low before next year's harvest.
Record crude oil, wheat, rice and soybean prices this year have driven global inflation, forcing governments to increase or hold interest rates at a time when house prices are falling.
Spiralling food and fuel costs present a "serious'' threat to the global economy, eclipsing the credit crunch, finance ministers from the Group of Eight nations said in a statement released after a meeting in Japan last week.
