天气因素促使粮食价格上涨

 　　UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued the latest Food Price Index, saying rising food prices last month were spurred by weather-driven concerns about sugar and palm oil supplies, a UN spokesman told reporters here Thursday.

　　According to the FAO data, major food commodity prices rose in October, up 3.9 percent from September.

　　"The reasons for this rise go from excessive rains in Brazil and drought in India and Thailand, to intensifying¹ concerns that El Nino may hamper² next year's palm oil supply in Indonesia," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

　　The food prices, however, are down 16 percent from a year earlier.

　　Food prices rise in October due to weather-driven concerns, UN says

　　FAO's latest Cereal Supply and Demand Brief slightly trimmed its October 2015 forecast for global cereal production and predicted production at 2.53 billion tonnes, 1.1 percent below last year's record output.

　　Half of the forecast cut reflected dimmer expectations about maize³ crops in India and Ukraine, mostly due to adverse⁴ weather. Drought in Thailand prompted a reduction in the seasonal⁵ rice harvest projection⁶.

　　At the same time, the forecast for global wheat production has been raised, largely reflecting a bigger harvest in the European Union than anticipated earlier.

　　World cereal stocks are expected to remain at a comfortable level, with global wheat inventories⁷ rising further to reach their highest level in 15 years.

　　FAO's Sugar Price Index led the overall rise, surging 17.2 percent from September, amid fears that excessive rains in the main growing regions in Brazil would impact the sugarcane harvest and reports of drought in India and Thailand. The sharp jump reversed the sub-index's decline since February.

　　Intensifying concerns that El Nino may hamper next year's palm oil supply in Indonesia, coupled with slow progress in soybean plantings in Brazil, due also to unfavourable weather, led to a 6.2 increase in the FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index.

　　The Dairy Price Index rose 9.4 percent from September on concerns that milk output in New Zealand would decline. The Meat Price Index was stable.

　　The Cereal Price Index also rose, albeit⁸ by a modest 1.7 percent, pushed up in part by growing concerns over dry weather conditions affecting wheat crops in Ukraine and southern parts of the Russian Federation⁹.

　　The FAO Food Price Index is a trade-weighted index that tracks prices on international markets of five major food commodity categories: cereals, meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar.

1 intensifying   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的现在分词 )；增辉

参考例句：

• The allies are intensifying their air campaign. 联军部队正加大他们的空战强度。 来自辞典例句
• The rest of the European powers were in a state of intensifying congestion. 其余的欧洲强国则处于越来越拥挤的状态。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

2 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

3 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

4 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

5 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

6 projection   

n.发射，计划，突出部分

参考例句：

• Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
• The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。

7 inventories   

n.总结( inventory的名词复数 )；细账；存货清单（或财产目录）的编制

参考例句：

• In other cases, such as inventories, inputs and outputs are both continuous. 在另一些情况下，比如存货，其投入和产出都是持续不断的。
• The store must clear its winter inventories by April 1st. 该店必须在4月1日前售清冬季存货。

8 albeit   

conj.即使；纵使；虽然

参考例句：

• Albeit fictional,she seemed to have resolved the problem.虽然是虚构的，但是在她看来好象是解决了问题。
• Albeit he has failed twice,he is not discouraged.虽然失败了两次，但他并没有气馁。

9 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。