NESTLE CHIEF FEARS LONG-TERM FOOD PRICE INFLATION
雀巢董事长担心食品价格将长期上涨By Geoff Dyer in Beijing
Friday, July 06, 2007
Food prices are set for a period of “significant and long-lasting” inflation because of demand from China and India and the use of crops for biofuels, according to the head of Nestle.
全球最大食品公司雀巢公司董事长兼首席执行官Peter Brabeck)表示，在来自中国和印度的需求以及将农作物用于生物燃料的推动下，全球食品价格将经历一段“显著且持久”的上涨期。
Peter Brabeck, chairman of the world's largest food company, said rises in food prices reflected not only temporary factors but also long-term and structural changes in supply and demand.
Brabeck表示，食品价格不仅反映了短期因素，同时也反映出供求方面的长期及结构性变化。
“They will have a long-lasting impact on food prices,” he said during a visit to China.
Brabeck在一次访华期说：“它们将对食品价格产生持久的影响。”
Several food companies have warned about the short-term outlook for prices, but Mr Brabeck's comments are among the starkest warnings that a long period of rising food prices could stoke broader inflationary pressures.
多家食品公司就食品价格的短期前景发出了警告，但Brabeck的评论是其中最为严厉的警告之一。他警告称，食品价格长时间的不断上涨，可能会加剧更广泛的通胀压力。
Mr Brabeck said Nestlé had first forecast higher food prices two years ago and price pressure had become apparent last year.
Brabeck表示，两年前，雀巢率先预测出食品价格将上涨，去年，价格压力变得明显起来。
Corn prices have risen about 60 per cent and wheat about 50 per cent over the last 12 months. Sugar, milk and cocoa prices have also surged, promptingthe biggest increase in retail food prices in three decades in some countries.
过去12个月，玉米和小麦价格已分别上涨60%和50%左右，食糖、牛奶和可可价格也大幅飙升，使得一些国家的零售食品价格出现了30年来幅度最大的上涨。
The Nestlé chairman cited population growth, rising demand from “the phenomena of India and China” and the use of food products by biofuel producers as causes of pressure in international food markets.
Brabeck将人口增长、“印度和中国现象”导致的需求不断上升以及生物燃料制造商对食品的使用，列为全球食品市场压力的根源所在。
Reports from two international organisations this week forecast food price rises of between 20 and 50 per cent over the next decade.
两家国际组织本周发表的报告预计，未来10年，食品价格涨幅将介于20%至50%之间。
But some analysts believe the long-term risk of higher food prices is exaggerated. Julian Jessop, chief international economist at Capital Economics in London, said biofuels producers would develop technologies that required less raw material or used non-edible parts of food.
然而，一些分析人士认为，市场夸大了食品涨价的长期风险。伦敦资本经济首席国际经济学家Julian Jessop表示，生物燃料制造商将开发需要原材料较少或利用食品中不可食用部分的
技术。
“There are good medium-term reasons to think that the biofuels price shock will pass,” he said.
他表示：“从中期角度看，有很充分的理由认为，生物燃料对食品价格的冲击将会消失。”
