ECONOMICS REPORT - 'Agflation' Raises Grain Prices, but Not Corn Ethanol
Thu, 4 Oct 2007
This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
Right now, many people around the world are feeling the pain of "agflation." Agricultural inflation has been hitting the price of grains and other products. Food prices have risen under pressure from energy costs and growing world demand for food, as well as local problems like the weather.
经济报道：“农产品通货膨胀”使谷物价格上升，但玉米乙醇是例外。
2007年10月4日
目前，全球许多人正在经受“农产品通货膨胀”的疼痛。农产品通货膨胀已经并还在影响谷物和其它产品的价格。由于受到能源成本、全球对食品需求的不断增长以及诸如天气等的局部问题的影响，食品价格上升。
In the United States, grain prices are reaching historic highs. And supplies have dropped to lows not seen since the nineteen seventies. For one of America's leading crops, the growing use of corn to make fuel has driven up the price.
The government has strongly supported ethanol production. In two thousand five, Congress set a national goal of using twenty-eight billion liters of ethanol a year by two thousand twelve. President Bush and Congress have since expanded that goal. As a result, farmers are planting more corn.
在美国，谷物价格正在处于历史高位。并且，供应已经下降至1970年代以来的最低位。对于美国主要庄稼之一（玉米），玉米生产燃料的不断使用推升了价格（上涨）。
美国政府大力支持乙醇生产。在2005年，美国议会设定了到2020年使用280升乙醇/年的全国目标。布什总统和美国议会在此后提高这一目标。因此，农民正种植更多的玉米。
But more hectares of maize for ethanol mean fewer hectares for crops like soybeans. Meat producers now have to pay more for soybeans because there is less available for animal feed. This is how corn-based ethanol affects the price of meat products.
Rising grain prices could signal a change for agricultural commodities around the world.
但是，乙醇玉米的更多种植面积也表示诸如大豆等庄稼更少的种植面积。肉类生产业主现在必须采购高价大豆，因为动物饲料供应不足，这是由于玉米乙醇影响到肉类产品的价格。
谷物价格的上升预示着全球农产品的变化。
For years, developing countries have opposed government support for farmers in wealthy nations. They make the case that farm subsidies drive down prices for agricultural products, hurting poor farmers. Subsidies have been one of the major disputes limiting progress in the Doha development round of world trade talks.
Now, there is worry that the increasing demand for food could drive prices too high, hurting the buying power of the world's poor.
多年来，发展中国家反对发达国家对农业的政府支持。他们指出，农业补贴使农产品价格下降，损害贫苦农民。补贴一直是影响世界贸易谈判多哈回合进展的主要争议之一。
现在的担心是食品需求不断上升可将价格进一步推升，损害全球贫民的购买力。
Many developing countries have a growing middle class. More people than ever have money to buy high-value agricultural products like meat and milk. In China, for example, Premier Wen Jiabao has called for increased milk production. More milking cows means the need for more feed.
Yet prices are not rising for all agriculture-based products. In the United States, while the price of corn remains high, it has not affected ethanol prices. In fact, in recent months, those prices have dropped about thirty percent. Production has expanded faster than demand, so now there is a big oversupply of ethanol.
And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Transcripts and archives of our broadcasts are at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.
许多发展中国家有一群不断增加的中产阶层，更多的人有钱采购诸如肉类和牛奶等高价值的农产品。例如，在中国，总理温家宝要求增加牛奶生产；更多的奶牛需要更多的饲料。
但是，并非所有的农产品价格均在上涨。在美国，尽管玉米价格高，但并未影响到乙醇的价格。事实上，近几个月来，其价格已经下跌了近30%。（由于）生产扩张大于需求，因此乙醇产能大大过剩。
这是由Mario Ritter编写的、VOA特别英语的经济报道，广播稿及档案参见www.unsv.com；我是Steve Ember。