Ukraine, Ismea: “Rising costs of raw materials and energy slow down agri-food growth”

The increase in the costs of raw materials and energy is a factor that weighs heavily on both the primary sector and the food industry, adding to the problems associated with transport and logistics. In this context, the weight determined by the changed geopolitical equilibrium appears clear; the direct and indirect consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine will have a high impact on the international scenario, both for the accentuated instability of the financial markets and the upward pressure on the prices of all raw materials, including speculative ones, and for the introduction of trade sanctions and restrictions. This is what Ismea underlines in the Agrimercati report, in which the body analyzes the main dynamics of the Italian agri-food sector in 2021, with particular reference to the 4th quarter of 2021. The prospects for 2022 are unequivocally influenced by the growth in product prices food, by the reduction in the purchasing power of families due to the increase in bills and by the new uncertainty about the economic recovery in the crisis scenario determined by the war between Russia and Ukraine.