With high packing food inflation worries

With the anticipated decline in grain prices, which have exploded in 2012 due to poor harvests in South America and the USA, relief in food inflation this year.
Other components of the cost of the food industry, however, should slow the price drop or may even annul the effect of the devaluation of the grains on industrialized products, according to Mauro de Rezende Lopes, researcher of the Brazilian Institute of Economics (Ibre) of the FGV.
As corn and soy derivatives are raw material in the production of poultry, pigs and a wide range of processed foods--ice cream--the masses, have great influence on inflation of food, which accounts for 24% of the IPCA, the official index.
The quotations have already lost strength in relation to the maximum, but still in high level and should not cede more after American Harvest definition, in the second half.
The most significant impact of the new scenario of the grains in the prices of processed foods, so should only be felt in the second half of the year.
What most concerns, however, are other costs of the food industry, such as packaging and shipping.
Polling done by researcher Ibre with industries shows that, since January, the glass packaging rose 11% to food producers, the metal packaging, 7.5%, and the cardboard, 5%.
Other materials used in packaging, such as copper (4.4%) and metal sheets (7.2%), also have risen. Not counting the freight cost, the greater concern of agribusiness and food industry.
FREIGHT
In addition to the increase in the price of diesel, from 5.4% in January and over 5% this week, the reduction of working hours of truck drivers will rise by at least 10% freight cost to the food industry, according to the survey of Lee.
He also says that raise business costs in relation to anticipation, in some cases, for January.
Inflation rates have not yet captured the impact of freight and packaging on the processed foods because the pass-through of cost increases to consumers began at the turn of February to March.
"There's no way the processed foods sector contribute to a drop in inflation, at least in the next three months," he says.
With the increased income, industrialized foods earn relevance in price indices. The Group has 7% weight in the IPCA.