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The world is headed for “meals wars” as geopolitical tensions and local weather change push nations into battle over waning provides, mentioned one of many world’s largest agricultural commodity merchants.
“We have now fought many wars over oil. We are going to struggle greater wars over meals and water,” mentioned Sunny Verghese, chief govt of Olam Agri, a Singapore-based agricultural buying and selling home.
Talking on the Redburn Atlantic and Rothschild client convention final week, Verghese warned that commerce limitations imposed by governments in search of to shore up home meals shares had exacerbated meals inflation.
Large agricultural commodity merchants, which reaped file earnings in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine despatched meals costs hovering, have been accused of exacerbating flood value inflation by means of profit-boosting mark-ups.
However Verghese argued that elevated meals value inflation was partly the results of authorities intervention. A proliferation of non-tariff commerce limitations in 2022 in response to the battle — 1,266 from 154 nations by his rely — had “created an exaggerated demand-supply imbalance”, he mentioned.
Wealthier nations had been increase surpluses of strategic commodities, resulting in exaggerated demand, and in flip increased costs, Verghese mentioned. “India, China, all people has received buffer shares,” he mentioned. “That’s solely exacerbating the worldwide drawback.”
Meals costs began to climb within the wake of Covid-19 and surged following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as some exports of grain and fertilisers had been blocked by the battle. This deepened meals insecurity in poorer nations and left shoppers everywhere in the world going through a price of residing disaster.
With this rise and local weather change hampering agricultural manufacturing globally, governments are more and more turning to protectionist insurance policies.
In 2022, Indonesia banned palm oil exports to guard the native market whereas final yr India imposed export restrictions on sure varieties of rice in an effort to curb rising home costs forward of parliamentary elections, after a risky monsoon disrupted manufacturing and spurred fears of a provide scarcity.
“That was exactly the flawed factor,” Verghese mentioned. “You’re going to see increasingly of that.”
Olam Agri, which processes and provides grains and oilseeds, edible oil, rice and cotton is a part of the broader Olam Group. The meals and agribusiness, which provides components, feed and fibre to international manufacturers from Nestlé to Unilever, has had a tough yr.
The dealer, which has a big footprint in Asia and Africa, was investigated by authorities in Nigeria final yr after information studies claimed it was concerned in a multibillion-dollar fraud. Shares within the firm jumped in February when it was cleared of wrongdoing.
Olam Group was additionally compelled to difficulty a revenue warning for the primary half of 2023. Even after a greater second half, it reported a 56 per cent drop in full-year earnings to S$278.7mn (US$205mn), blaming this on excessive rates of interest and “distinctive losses” brought on by low yields from its almond orchards in Australia.
The group mentioned the droop in earnings was partly the results of a decrease contribution from Olam Agri, following the sale of a 35 per cent stake within the enterprise in 2022 to a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund for $1.24bn. Olam Group is 51.5 per cent owned by Singaporean state-owned funding firm Temasek Holdings.
Olam Group has long-standing plans to float Olam Agri with a major itemizing in Singapore and a secondary itemizing in Saudi Arabia, however these have been repeatedly delayed because the buying and selling arm was cut up from its meals components enterprise in 2020.* Headquartered in London, Olam Meals Components is without doubt one of the world’s greatest suppliers of cocoa, espresso, nuts and spices.
Addressing the influence of local weather change on international yields, Verghese urged the gathering of client business executives, together with the bosses of Coca-Cola and Related British Meals, to “get up” and take extra motion on local weather change.
Governments ought to cost a tax for carbon, he argued. “Carbon is free at present, so we’re polluting indiscriminately,” he mentioned.
*This text has been up to date to make clear that Olam Group, not Olam Agri, is 51.5 per cent owned by Temasek Holdings and that it plans to drift Olam Agri with a major itemizing in Singapore and a secondary itemizing in Saudi Arabia.
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