Record food prices are unlikely to ease in the foreseeable future, as high grain demand and low stocks mean the world remains vulnerable to possible food shocks, a United Nations expert said on Monday.
Efforts to increase wheat output may not be enough to offset soaring demand and bring the cereal off the all-time price highs it is continuing to hit, said Abdolreza Abbassian, grains economist at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
"The wheat story is far from over,"Abbassian told Reuters in an interview.
He said that if there is the slightest weather problem next year in any major producing country or in any major developing country importer that also produces, such as China or India, wheat prices will soar again.
With global stocks low, a major weather disaster would push the world into real food shortages, he added.
"We have been very careful with this term 'world food crisis'. There are crises but there's not a world food crisis."
