Costs of Goods, Services Increase around the World
2021-10-15
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1With coronavirus restrictions easing in some places, companies around the world are struggling to find workers, ships, parts and fuel.
2Such shortages have led to higher prices for goods and services and have threatened economic recovery.
3In Britain, the nation's largest chicken producer warned that the 20-year period of cheap food prices is ending.
4The head of the producer said food prices will go much higher because of increasing costs for labor and supplies.
5"The days when you could feed a family of four with a 3 pound ($4) chicken are coming to an end," said Ranjit Singh Boparan.
6He owns 2 Sisters Food Group in Britain.
7In Japan, dairy products maker Meiji Holdings has increased prices of some products by up to 12.8 percent.
8It is the maker's first price increase since 2008.
9Other food companies have also raised prices on their main product lines for the first time in many years.
10Yuka Urakawa has noticed the price changes in her country.
11She called the increases "terrible."
12She noted that people's earnings have not increased, and taxes are rising.
13"People are increasingly becoming poor," she said.
14On Thursday, the Swedish central bank reported that inflation in the northern European country reached its highest level in more than 10 years.
15Similar reports came from Spain and Ireland.
16Worker shortages are leading to major delays at ports in the United States.
17This week, President Joe Biden announced that workers at the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will work around the clock to unload about 500,000 containers waiting on ships.
18Oil prices rose by about 1 percent on Thursday.
19Top oil producer Saudi Arabia has dismissed calls for increasing oil output.
20The average U.S. cost of a gallon of gasoline is now at a seven-year high.
21And the U.S. Energy Department expects winter fuel costs to go much higher.
22The Reuters news agency reported that the Biden administration has been speaking with U.S. oil and gas producers about helping to bring down fuel costs.
23In China, shortages of coal, high fuel prices and increasing post-pandemic demand have led to a halt in production at factories supplying goods to the world.
24The International Energy Agency wrote in its monthly oil report,
25 "Higher energy prices are also adding to inflationary pressures that, along with power outages, could lead to lower industrial activity and a slowdown in the economic recovery."
26The Dutch mapping software company TomTom reported Thursday that its sales dropped 21 percent in the third quarter of the year.
27It also warned that supply chain problems in the automobile industry could last until the first half of 2022.
28The company supplies its software to carmakers.
29TomTom's Chief Financial Officer Taco Titulaer told Reuters, "collectively, we have underestimated how big the supply chain issues, and especially for semiconductor shortages, have been or have become."
30Italian-American vehicle maker CNH Industrial NV said on Wednesday it will temporarily shut several European manufacturing centers because of difficulties in finding parts.
31Some other carmakers, such as Toyota, are hoping to restart production in December with new shipments from pandemic-hit suppliers.
32Toyota officials told Reuters that the company plans to build an extra 97,000 vehicles between December and March.
33They will do so by possibly adding weekend work periods.
34Increasing demand for semiconductors is good news for Taiwan's TSMC.
35The world's largest contract chipmaker reported a nearly 14 percent jump in third-quarter profits this year.
36TSMC and Taiwan have become central to efforts aimed at fixing the worldwide chip shortage, which has also hit manufacturers of smartphones, laptop computers and home machinery.
37I'm Ashley Thompson.
1With coronavirus restrictions easing in some places, companies around the world are struggling to find workers, ships, parts and fuel. Such shortages have led to higher prices for goods and services and have threatened economic recovery. 2In Britain, the nation's largest chicken producer warned that the 20-year period of cheap food prices is ending. The head of the producer said food prices will go much higher because of increasing costs for labor and supplies. 3"The days when you could feed a family of four with a 3 pound ($4) chicken are coming to an end," said Ranjit Singh Boparan. He owns 2 Sisters Food Group in Britain. 4In Japan, dairy products maker Meiji Holdings has increased prices of some products by up to 12.8 percent. It is the maker's first price increase since 2008. Other food companies have also raised prices on their main product lines for the first time in many years. 5Yuka Urakawa has noticed the price changes in her country. She called the increases "terrible." She noted that people's earnings have not increased, and taxes are rising. "People are increasingly becoming poor," she said. 6On Thursday, the Swedish central bank reported that inflation in the northern European country reached its highest level in more than 10 years. Similar reports came from Spain and Ireland. 7Worker shortages are leading to major delays at ports in the United States. This week, President Joe Biden announced that workers at the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will work around the clock to unload about 500,000 containers waiting on ships. 8Higher energy prices 9Oil prices rose by about 1 percent on Thursday. Top oil producer Saudi Arabia has dismissed calls for increasing oil output. 10The average U.S. cost of a gallon of gasoline is now at a seven-year high. And the U.S. Energy Department expects winter fuel costs to go much higher. The Reuters news agency reported that the Biden administration has been speaking with U.S. oil and gas producers about helping to bring down fuel costs. 11In China, shortages of coal, high fuel prices and increasing post-pandemic demand have led to a halt in production at factories supplying goods to the world. 12The International Energy Agency wrote in its monthly oil report, "Higher energy prices are also adding to inflationary pressures that, along with power outages, could lead to lower industrial activity and a slowdown in the economic recovery." 13Limited supply of semiconductors 14The Dutch mapping software company TomTom reported Thursday that its sales dropped 21 percent in the third quarter of the year. It also warned that supply chain problems in the automobile industry could last until the first half of 2022. The company supplies its software to carmakers. 15TomTom's Chief Financial Officer Taco Titulaer told Reuters, "collectively, we have underestimated how big the supply chain issues, and especially for semiconductor shortages, have been or have become." 16Italian-American vehicle maker CNH Industrial NV said on Wednesday it will temporarily shut several European manufacturing centers because of difficulties in finding parts. 17Some other carmakers, such as Toyota, are hoping to restart production in December with new shipments from pandemic-hit suppliers. Toyota officials told Reuters that the company plans to build an extra 97,000 vehicles between December and March. They will do so by possibly adding weekend work periods. 18Increasing demand for semiconductors is good news for Taiwan's TSMC. The world's largest contract chipmaker reported a nearly 14 percent jump in third-quarter profits this year. 19TSMC and Taiwan have become central to efforts aimed at fixing the worldwide chip shortage, which has also hit manufacturers of smartphones, laptop computers and home machinery. 20I'm Ashley Thompson. 21Hai Do adapted the story for Learning English based on reporting from Reuters. Ashley Thompson was the editor. 22__________________________________________________________ 23Words in This Story 24cheap - adj. not costing a lot of money 25inflation - n. a continual increase in the price of goods and services 26gallon - n. a unit of liquid measurement equal to 3.8 liters 27semiconductor - n. electronic chip or circuit