Spekulation mit Nahrungsmittelprodukten als Ursache für Welternährungskrisen: Untersuchung am Beispiel des Reismarktes[Speculation with food products as a reason for global food crises: Analysis using the example of the rice market]

Rice is the most eaten cereal in the world and the base of life for a huge part of poor population. But in spring 2008 the price raised that much that many people could not even afford the most needed quantities - a situation which shocked people all over the world. So, what are the reasons for this food crisis? The motivation of this Bachelor Thesis is to provide a more detailed picture of the situation and its background in order to clarify whether speculation at commodity markets is responsible and to reveal which role financial markets have. The applied method is an analysis of existing literature. To close the gaps of literature experts of the rice market have been interviewed in writing and internet information of the existing financial markets for rice trade has been used. To be able to answer the question of the Thesis, information about the global rice market, the functionality of financial markets and the global food crisis of 2008 have been opposed. Own conclusions and the analysis of existing studies give the result that the rice crisis of 2008 cannot be dismissed across-the-board as a product of financial markets. Indeed, there has been speculation, but financial markets for rice trade are that unimportant that they hardly influence the world market. Much more important is off-market speculation of the actors of the rice chain. But even this influence cannot be proved clearly. Hence, the Thesis comes to the conclusion that main accountability for the high rise of prices is due to the panic behavior of some governments after slight rise of prices in the end of 2007. The sudden closures of markets influenced demand and offer what disturbed the market balance and thus a change of prices. But this conclusion can only be applied to the rice market which distinguishes a lot of other commodity markets. To deliver a general judgment analyses of more case studies are essential.