Prices of wheat, a food staple in many developing countries, were at the head of a surge in food prices in 2010, sparking concerns among world leaders that any further increase could trigger deadly riots like those seen two years ago.
High food costs are already behind violent protests in North African countries and the unrest that toppled Tunisia's president and prompted neighbouring states to speed up wheat purchases to secure supplies.
Swelling concerns about crops in top producing countries after adverse weather, including dryness in the United States, coupled with ever rising demand, are also likely to keep supporting global wheat prices in 2011, analysts say.
"If Mother Nature is unfavourable, which is what it is doing at the moment, we are going to prolong the agony and we have not necessarily seen the peak," said James Dunsterville, head analyst with Geneva-based Agrinews.
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