評論
打印
In the background lurks climate change, fears of which have grown with the heat and drought battering Europe's wheat crop this summer.
在此背景下還潛伏著氣候變化、以及今年夏天歐洲小麥作物遭遇高溫干旱打擊的恐懼。
European grain prices have surged as a result. But those of many other commodities are sagging.
歐洲糧食價格也因此飆升。但是很多其他商品價格卻在下降。
On August 22nd a pound of arabica coffee fell below $1, less than the cost of a takeaway brew and the lowest in 12 years.
8月22日，一磅小粒咖啡價格低至一美元不到，比外賣啤酒成本還低，成為12年來的最低價。
Raw sugar was also at ten-year lows. Both have been hit by oversupply in Brazil, as well as a slide in the value of the real, the Brazilian currency,
粗糖也到達了10年最低價。受巴西供應過量以及巴西貨幣雷亞爾貶值的影響，這兩種食物價格受到沖擊，
which makes it more compelling to sell crops, priced in dollars, rather than store them.
將這商品儲存起來，還不如按美元進行售賣更能激發人們的興趣。
The previous week, prices of copper fell into bear-market territory, down by more than 20% since June,
由于擔心貿易保護主義會抑制全球增長，尤其是中國市場額增長，
on fears that protectionism would dampen global growth, especially in China,
上一周，銅的價格進入熊市，自6月份起下跌已超過20%，
whose efforts to crack down on financial leverage are another drag on expansion.
中國壓制金融杠桿的努力是對擴張的另一種拖延。
Oil prices have dipped for seven straight weeks, also because of concerns about lack lustre demand in emerging markets
出于對新興市場需求不足的擔心以及美元的強勢使得貨幣疲軟的國家購買原材料成本增加，
and because a strong dollar makes it dearer for those with weak currencies to buy crude.
石油價格連續7周下跌。
Gold has developed a strange habit of sliding in sync with the Chinese yuan.
黃金已經形成了和人民幣同步下跌的慣性。
American corn and soyabean prices, meanwhile, continue a long streak of weakness caused mainly by harvests that get more bountiful by the year.
與此同時，截止今年，玉米和大豆大豐收，美國玉米和大豆價格也受此影響而低迷。
The Department of Agriculture is forecasting a record corn yield this year and the biggest harvest of soyabeans ever,
農業部預測今年玉米產量會創紀錄，大豆也將獲得最大豐收，
something the crop tour is likely to validate, Mr Seifried says. But that is lousy timing, given that China,
賽弗里德表示，這些可能是他們想要去證實的事情。但是現在不是證實的好時機，考慮到中國—
which was America's biggest buyer of soyabeans, raised retaliatory tariffs on the crop in July.
美國最大的大豆買方，今年7月對美國農作物增收報復性關稅。
Farmers hope to sell more in Europe, where soya meal for animal feed is in high demand because of the high cost of wheat.
農民們希望能更多的在歐洲進行推銷，由于小麥成本高，所以歐洲人用豆渣喂養動物，因此對大豆需求很高。
But the slide in the real also makes Brazilian soyabeans more competitive.
但是現實情況是，價格下滑也讓巴西的大豆更具有競爭力。
Optimism flickers from time to time. Many commodities rallied in the run-up to the latest trade talks between American and Chinese officials,
樂觀主義有時也會跳動。在近期中美高層會談前夕，很多商品回彈，中美高層會談在《經濟學人》付印后
which were due to end after The Economist went to press. The dollar fell, bolstering some commodities,
也將結束。美元下跌支撐起了一些商品
after President Donald Trump said in an interview with Reuters on August 20th that
此前8月20日，唐納德·特朗普總統在接受《路透社》采訪時表示
he was "not thrilled" with the Federal Reserve's policy of raising American interest rates.
美聯儲增加美國利率的政策并沒有讓他感到“激動”。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
