Word: metrics
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...rice, wheat, maize, sugar, milk - are soaring at rates of inflation not seen on such a global scale in a generation, resulting in hoarding, widespread food shortages and fears of outright famine in the world's poorest countries. Rice prices have nearly tripled since January, reaching $1,000 per metric ton last month in India. Wheat has doubled in price in a year and jumped 25% in just one day in February. Reeling from sticker shock, tens of thousands of people have stormed the streets in protest across the Caribbean, Africa and South Asia, demanding that their governments offer relief...
...shipping system was born. Today crude oil travels in tankers that can carry up to 4 million bbl. With daily world demand at about 85 million bbl., petroleum represents about a third of all international cargo. And even though the commodity is also measured in kiloliters (in Japan) and metric tons (in Russia), thanks to whiskey, the units are always converted to the 42-gal. barrel for trading and selling...
...among many. "Rice is basically buggered," says Brett Heffernan, of Australia's National Farmers' Federation. In a normal year, Australia's 2,000 rice farmers produce about 1.2 million metric tons of the grain. This year's harvest was a paltry 18,000 tons - the lowest yield since 1927, when the country's rice industry was four years old. "Frustration is the common feeling at the moment," says Gordon, president of the Ricegrowers' Association of Australia. "We think we're really good food producers. But at the moment we're not producing any food...
...drought has also savaged recent Australian wheat crops. Normally among the top three or four wheat exporters in the world, Australia has managed to produce little more than half of its usual 20 million metric tons in each of the past two years. But these setbacks are having a paradoxical effect. Not nearly as thirsty a crop as rice and expensive now on world markets at about $350 a ton, wheat in Australia is attracting new growers. "Some are looking at putting wheat in this year instead of restocking on cattle - because it's cheaper and because they...
...likely be only around 7 kg, too small for many of Japan's sashimi buyers. Stehr thinks the Japanese may still want the smaller fish, but sees the U.S., China and Europe as alternative markets. Growing global demand will drive up prices, he says: "I used to catch one [metric] ton of tuna for $50. Now we get $76,000 for one fish." That was unusual, though. The Japanese today pay around $23/kg, making an average southern bluefin worth around...