How business, doctors and journalists prey on your food anxieties I

KnWit-Ridder-CRB spot indexes
RnWRidderCRB futures indexes
270
230
225
1992 1993 1994
1995
190
1992 1993 1994 !995
"If it becomes clear the U .S . economy is avoiding a recession,
commodities marlcets could explode," says Steee
Strongin, oice president <strong>and</strong> commodities strategist at
Goldman, Sachs . Strongin sees the price of aluminumcurrendv
51,902 per metric ton on the spot marlcetdsing
as ]tigh as S2,450 o%zr the ncct year. Strongin thinks
oil prices will also strengthen, not because the Organization
of Petroleum Esporting Countries (orec) will regain
control of'er pricing, but because dem<strong>and</strong> will be strong .
So far this vear, commodiq° prices are up 2 .7%, as measured
bv I:night-Ridder's Commodity Research [3ureau
spot price index of 23 industrial <strong>and</strong> agrieultural prod-
ucts . Corn has been especially strong . Since the start of
the t'ear, the price of a bushel of corn climbed 17%, from
52 .49 to 52 .92 . And even higher corn prices may be on
the horizon .
Don Roose, president of U .S- Commodities, Inc ., an
agricultural hedging <strong>and</strong> trading firm in West Des
Moines, notes that o~er the past year U .S . corn plantings
feil by 3 .3 million acres from original intentions . Thanks
to unfa~orable spring weather, U .S . corn yields are also
down-from a record higll in 1994 of 139 bushels pcr
acre to 120 per acre so far this vear . Roose says that any
more weather-related catastrophes could push corn prices
to becsaeen 33 .50 <strong>and</strong> S4 a bushel by the end of the year .
Commodity spotB$ht
Cash <strong>and</strong> firtures prices
Coffee'($ ~er pound)
Spotindexes
Futures indexes
IndeX" Value
All commo diti es
293 . 57
Raw industrials 341 .35
Metals 313 .18
Textiles 288 .74
Foodstuffs 235 .93
3-mo change
3%
-3
3
-4
11
Indez'
. ._ .__ ._~.
NA•CRBindex
Precious metals
Industrials
Bralns
Livestock & meat
Value 3-mochange
.W. . .__.T - ._._
276 .45
263 .34
228.28
183 .15
-6 .
-8 .
17 ;
7 ~
Good news for Starbucks, Procter &
Gamble, Philip Morris <strong>and</strong> other
coffee ~ndors . After a dramatic
suree in the sunlmer of 1994, coffee
bean futures prices ha~e been falling
for almost a}'car . The September
1995 futures contract declined by
half between July 1994 <strong>and</strong> July 6
this ~ear, although the contract has
since gained 17% .
Spot commodity prices
Futures prices
index Price 3-mo change Index Price 3-mo change
. . ._ ~ .
-
. __ .--"--
SteelscraP(shmtton) $140 .50 Z%- Octplatlnumftroyoz) 843D . 9D 5%
Copper scrap (pound) 1 .12
Printcloth(sqyad) 0,92
8
-3 .
Bctcrudeail(6arrel)
Sept copper (pound)
16 .71
Corn (hushep 2,8 : 17 Oct cotton (pound) 0 .76 -11
Soybeanoii(pound) 0 .27 6 CecChiwheat(bus'ne'J 4 .70 28
Note: Ad prices as of 7r20/95 .'Compcsed of 13 corrnodites.'Camposed of the 13 raw industrial commpdities plus 10 fecastufls .'3old, platmum <strong>and</strong> snve* . °Co,posee of 21
commedmes . `Sep