Rising fuel, food prices nurturing inflation

Biofuel demand among items increasing corn, wheat and sugar prices, economist says

Rising food and fuel prices are feeding inflation in Canada, according to economic and political analyses Tuesday.

“Higher food commodity prices have already spilled over into Canada,” J.P. Morgan economist Ted Carmichael said after Statistics Canada reported that food producer prices in March were up four per cent from 2006.


That’s a marked acceleration from a year ago when such prices were down 0.1 per cent, Carmichael said, noting that consumers are paying 4.4-per-cent more than a year ago for food.

The rise in Canada can be traced to recent sharp increases in food commodity prices in the U.S. and globally, he said, citing, among other things, biofuel demand that is hiking prices for corn, wheat and sugar products.

Vancouver Sun