Louisiana was holding its breath when Hurricane Gustav made landfall last week. It promised to be the mother of all storms as it roared towards the Gulf Coast but fortunately the region, along with the food industry it supports, was spared.
Having largely escaped the wrath of Hurricane Katrina and
vigorously strengthened its position in the pectin, lecithin and
flavor sectors, Cargill has reported a two percent rise in first
quarter 2006 net earnings.
Dairy producers' losses from Hurricane Katrina could easily exceed
$40m, says a US dairy association, highlighting the prospect of
immeasurable long-term damage and raising questions over when
disaster aid will get through.
Record high gasoline prices and the impact of Hurricane Katrina are
leading large numbers of consumers to change how they shop and
spend, says a market research firm.
Hurricane Katrina could dampen real gross domestic product (GDP)
growth in the second half of the year by up to one percentage
point, according to the Congressional Budgetary Office (CBO).
The terrible human cost of Hurricane Katrina is likely to be
prolonged following initial estimations of the damage caused to the
city's food industry and transport infrastructure.
As Hurricane Katrina hammers the US state of Louisiana damaging
corn and soybean crops in its wake and creating bullish trading in
the energy markets, the storm could actually benefit food crops
located further north, affecting global...