| From tumbling palm oil prices to 100-degree Fahrenheit heat bearing down on the US Plains, here's a snapshot of the latest key food supply stories from around the world: Crop Crash Food commodities from palm oil to corn erased steep 2022 gains this week amid fears of a coming recession. Physical supplies are also increasing as some key harvests pick up. There's concern that the US Federal Reserve won't be able to tame the highest inflation in four decades without throwing the world's biggest economy into a recession. A surge in the U.S. dollar — which makes it more expensive to buy raw materials priced in the greenback — has also weighed on U.S.-traded commodities. The Bloomberg Agriculture Spot Index plummeted to its lowest level this year. Food inflation had run rampant after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February choked supplies from the Black Sea, worsening existing shortages caused by supply-chain chaos. But prices fell back to levels seen before the invasion. The United Nations on Friday said its food-price index dropped in June from near a record. But recent declines haven't been as steep as in futures markets, and the retreat may offer only limited relief to shoppers. Extreme Weather Record heat is bearing down on parts of the US this week, and drought is creeping into corn and soybean-growing areas. Temperatures in the US will be higher than normal, even for summer, with records expected to be set across the Great Plains. The heat comes as climate change makes extreme weather events more likely to occur and more severe. While the US growing season has time to go, more hot, dry weather could limit grain yields at a time when an expansion in world food supplies is desperately needed to offset stranded supplies in Ukraine following Russia's invasion. Conditions have also been adversely dry in some of Europe's major corn producers, including Romania. Chicken Winner Boom times could be coming for Brazilian chicken companies like BRF SA and JBS SA. More nations are turning to Brazil for poultry supplies as bird flu outbreaks plague major consumers including Mexico. Other countries, like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, usually buy from Ukraine, but haven't been able to since Russia's invasion. They're buying Brazilian instead. There's more bullish news this week out of the South American nation, which is the top producer of soybeans, coffee and sugar. Its top port, Santos, is getting a railway upgrade that will help get fertilizer imports to its farmers faster. Rail capacity could double in the next 5 to ten years. —Lydia Mulvany in Chicago The number of undernourished people rose by about 6% to roughly 768 million last year, an annual report by United Nations agencies shows. The increase highlights the world's uneven recovery from the Covid pandemic and how high food costs are putting healthy diets out of reach for many around the globe. - European swine | Europe's shrinking pork output could be about to make bacon more expensive. Several producers like Germany are grappling to contain deadly swine fever outbreaks that have stifled exports.
- Ukraine grain| Romania reopened a Soviet-era rail link connecting its Danube River port of Galati to Ukraine a month earlier than expected to help boost vital grain exports from its neighbor. Separately, Romania is urging people to cut back on water usage as a drought strains supplies needed for electricity generation and agriculture.
- Food security | A 10th of the world went hungry last year, and the war in Ukraine is threatening efforts to eradicate the problem by the end of the decade.
- Feeding propaganda | European governments have been alarmed by a Russian disinformation campaign that seeks to deflect criticism that President Vladimir Putin's war with Ukraine risks leaving millions of people in Africa facing famine.
- Growing market | Tyson Foods is expanding chicken production in the growing Middle Eastern market with a $70 million deal to acquire a stake in Saudi Arabia's Tanmiah Food.
- China pork| China is using a well-established playbook to cool pork prices that will be easily recognized by traders in other vital commodities sectors.
- Paper deal| Canadian pulp-and-paper producer the Paper Excellence Group agreed to buy Resolute Forest Products Inc. for $1.6 billion in cash in its second major deal in 14 months.
- Wheat purchases | Egypt's state-run buyer is negotiating privately with traders to purchase wheat, making a rare shift from its usual tender process.
 | - Packaged foods| North American packaged-food producers' relative performance against the market this year may hinge on their ability to lift organic sales and pass rising costs on to customers.
- Low-carbon fuels| BloombergNEF has created a tool that projects the number of deficits and credits generated by various fuels per year
until 2030 under different scenarios, allowing the user to adjust various assumptions. - Use the AHOY function to track global commodities trade flows.
- Click HERE for automated stories about supply chains.
- See BNEF for BloombergNEF's analysis of clean energy, advanced transport, digital industry, innovative materials, and commodities.
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