Questão 70 - UFRR Módulo 3 2009

Text IV

 

    The decade of the 2000s saw a commodities boom, in which the prices of primary commodities rose again after the Great Commodities Depression of 1980-2000. But in 2008, the prices of many commodities, notably oil and food, rose so high as to cause genuine economic damage, threatening stagflation and a reversal of globalization.

    In January 2008, oil prices surpassed $100 a barrel for the first time, the first of many price milestones to be passed in the course of the year. By July the price of oil reached as high as $147 a barrel although prices fell soon after.

    The food and fuel crises were both discussed at the 34th G8 summit in July.

    Sulfuric acid (an important chemical commodity used in processes such as steel processing, copper production and bioethanol production) increased in price 6-fold in less than 1 year whilst producers of sodium hydroxide have declared force major due to flooding, precipitating similarly steep price increases.

    In the second half of 2008, the prices of mo st commodities fell dramatically on expectations of diminished demand in a world recession.

According to this text. What is it talking about?