Corn Price in Tombouctou

Notable price events

• ⚑2007-08 global food price crisis — Drought in major exporting countries, combined with several governments restricting exports to protect domestic supply and growing demand for biofuel crops, pushed wheat, rice and corn to what were then record prices within about a year - triggering food riots in over 30 countries.
• ⚑2012 US Midwest drought — The worst US drought in over 50 years cut the corn harvest roughly 13% below the prior year and pushed corn futures to a then-record above $8/bushel - the costliest agricultural disaster in US history at an estimated $30 billion in losses.
• ⚑African swine fever in China — African swine fever wiped out an estimated 40-55% of China's pig herd by late 2019 - roughly 250 million animals - tripling Chinese pork prices and collapsing the country's demand for the corn and soybean meal used to feed them, a rare case of a livestock disease moving grain markets more than weather did that year.
• ⚑Russia's invasion of Ukraine — Russia's February 2022 invasion cut off two of the world's largest wheat and corn exporters and most of its sunflower oil supply almost overnight, while sanctions and blocked Black Sea shipping routes hit Russian fertilizer exports too - sending prices sharply higher within days across all four commodities at once, a rare case of one event moving so many markets simultaneously.