April 6, 2010
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FOOD
Basic grocery prices up 6.2%
Rising demand and reduced supply drove supermarket prices for 16 basic foods up 6.2% in the first quarter, led by gains in staples such as cheese, vegetable oil and eggs, the American Farm Bureau Federation said.
The average cost of the items for a typical consumer each week rose to $45.54 from $42.90 in the fourth quarter of 2009, the group said Monday, citing an informal survey. Costs fell 4.3% from a year earlier.
Rising the most were sliced ham, apples, bacon and boneless chicken breasts.
Hog and cattle futures jump
Hogs rose to the highest price in almost 13 years and cattle gained on speculation that U.S. meat demand will improve as warmer weather encourages consumers to grill outdoors.
Meatpackers slaughtered about 2.18 million hogs last week, up 0.7% from a year earlier, while 637,000 cattle were killed, up 4.6%, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. Wholesale-pork prices are up 33% from a year ago, and beef prices have gained 20%, according to the USDA.
On Monday, hog futures for June settlement rose 2% to 85.05 cents a pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, after touching 85.65 cents, the highest level for a most-active contract since May 1997.
Cattle futures for June delivery rose 0.7% to 94.2 cents a pound on the mercantile exchange. The price climbed 2.1% last week.
