The Qiongzhou Strait has recorded all-time highs in daily ferry sailings and large vehicle transportation since the start of this year's Spring Festival travel rush, the first since the launch of island-wide special customs operations in the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP), according to transport authorities.
According to the Pearl River Navigation Administration under the Ministry of Transport, roll-on and roll-off ferry services in the strait reached 338 sailings on Tuesday, exceeding the previous Spring Festival record of 337.
Linking South China's island province of Hainan with Guangdong Province on the mainland, the strait witnessed a total of 4,516 coaches and trucks entering Hainan from Guangdong on Wednesday, and 8,538 coaches and trucks traveling to and out of the island, both setting new records, data from the Guangdong Provincial Department of Transport showed.
This year's Spring Festival travel rush, also known as chunyun, runs from Feb 2 to March 13. Official estimates indicate that inter-regional passenger trips during the period are projected to reach 9.5 billion, a record high.
The strait is expected to handle more than 4.66 million passenger trips and over 1.17 million vehicle crossings, representing year-on-year increases of 12 percent and 10 percent, respectively, according to the Ministry of Transport.
Qiongzhou Strait sees new records in transport
Global food commodity prices climbed for a second consecutive month in March, driven mainly by higher energy costs linked to escalating conflict in the Middle East, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in report released on Friday.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of globally traded food commodities, averaged 128.5 points in March, up 2.4 percent from February and 1.0 percent above its level a year ago.
According to the report, the FAO Vegetable Oil Index and Sugar Price Index showed the largest increases, up 5.1 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively.
The FAO Cereal Price Index increased by 1.5 percent from the previous month, driven primarily by higher world wheat prices, which rose 4.3 percent.
The FAO Meat Price Index rose by 1.0 percent from the previous month, and the FAO All-Rice Price Index declined by 3.0 percent in March, according to the report.
FAO stated that rising energy and fertilizer prices have been driving up agricultural input costs.
If the conflict stretches beyond 40 days, farmers will have to choose to farm the same with fewer inputs, plant less, or switch to less intensive fertilizer crops, according to FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero.
These choices will hit future yields and shape food supply and commodity prices for the rest of this year and beyond, Torero said.
Global food prices rise for 2nd consecutive month in March amid Middle East conflict: FAO
