Estimates of International Transport Losses of World Food Supply

Abstract

Definitive values for food losses in international trade are difficult to obtain. Losses are typically underestimated because they are fragmented, occurring at many points during distribution. As well, they are under-reported because they are commonly accepted as a cost of doing business. For example, shrinkage allowances that provide for “acceptable losses” are incorporated into price accounting. Food losses may also be ignored because they can be politically embarrassing. This paper attempts to build an order-of-magnitude estimate of losses occurring during ocean transport by comparing world totals of exports and imports. The estimated losses of $250-750 annually are found for the major categories of traded agricultural commodities.