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Irina Slav

Irina Slav

Irina is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing on the oil and gas industry.

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Europe's Energy Crisis Spills Over Into Food

  • Excessively high energy prices are pushing up food prices across Europe.
  • Bloomberg noted that the inflation in the UK is seen topping 13 percent this year.
  • Food processors are struggling to cope with the effects of rising energy prices and possible rationing.

Excessively high energy prices in Europe are pushing up the prices of everything that energy is used for, including food—a trend that will likely feed further inflation.

In a report on the topic, Bloomberg noted that the inflation in the UK is seen topping 13 percent this year, with a third of households having to spend over 10 percent of their income on energy.

In continental Europe, things are not much different as gas prices break record after record.

“Whether it’s roasting coffee or making sugar from beets, companies are so far only talking about the increase in raw materials,” Kona Haque, head of research for commodities firm ED&F Man, told Bloomberg. “I think the worst is still to come as energy prices rise. This winter will be a game changer and processing costs will likely go up.”

“We are now beyond the limits of affordability for many industrial users, and we might see recession alarms going off soon,” Rystad Energy senior analyst Kaushal Ramesh told the FT two weeks ago in comments on the latest price surge in natural gas after Russia reduced flows via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 20 percent.

Indeed, the Bloomberg report notes that excessive energy prices are forcing some vegetable oil producers to relocate their production outside Europe in search of lower energy costs.

It could get worse for food prices, too, if Europe has to resort to energy rationing in case of a shortage of natural gas and electricity in the winter. According to the Bloomberg report, some food factories may have to be shut down as governments prioritize household energy security.

The food price crunch could be especially painful for Britons, who were this month told by water utilities to switch from showers to wet towel wiping in order to save on water.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Leave a comment
  • George Doolittle on August 09 2022 said:
    Well clearly nothing ahem "especially bad" ahem going on in upon all of Russia at the moment.

    Or in Turkey for that matter as well.
    Or France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Berlin or Frankfurt or Kalingrad or the Donbas...i imagine the list is truly endless at the moment.
  • DoRight Deikins on August 09 2022 said:
    «The food price crunch could be especially painful for Britons, who were this month told by water utilities to switch from showers to wet towel wiping in order to save on water.»

    On a positive note, we should soon see new perfumes coming from the maisons de couture, as the need for a, ahem, more fragrant covering increases.

Leave a comment




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