The world will face high food prices "in the years to come", the UN food summit said yesterday, but failed to agree how the crisis could be eased. The summit, hosted by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, was called to tackle food price rises that have triggered riots in 30 countries, but became embroiled in a bitter dispute over biofuels and export restrictions. Agricultural commodities rose on the news as traders saw no prospect of change in biofuels policies or in the use of trade restrictions by key exporters. Bad weather has also contributed to the recent price rises. In Chicago, spot corn hit a record $6.40 a bushel and corn for delivery next year - by which time the US forecasts that about 33 per cent of its corn crop will be consumed by the biofuels industry - hit an all-time high of $6.83 a bushel. Soyabean prices hit a three-month peak as Argentina, the world's third largest soya exporter, made no move to lift its export restriction. "The indications are that food prices will remain high in the years to come," said the draft declaration, which was significantly diluted in order to reach consensus. "We commit to eliminating hunger and securing food for all today and tomorrow," it said. Officials acknowledged that the resolution was poor, but said the dispute over trade and biofuels was overshadowing the consensus reached at the summit to relaunch investment in agriculture for the first time in 25 years. They added that the G8 summit in July would push forward plans to tackle the slowdown in farming productivity. On the most contentious issue - the diversion of food crops for biofuels - countries agreed only to keep talking. In the draft declaration they recognised that biofuels offered "challenges" but also "opportunities". The US, Brazil and some European governments worked hard to stop biofuels being named as the main culprit behind food price inflation. Louis Michel, the European development commissioner, told the Financial Times countries acknowledged that biofuels had an impact on food prices but added: "You cannot say categorically that they are right or wrong." Ed Schafer, US agriculture secretary, said the language on biofuels was "acceptable". An official from a key European country said: "The declaration signals no political change at all on biofuels." The FAO believes that biofuels are responsible for 30 per cent of recent food price rises, but Washington says it is only 3 per cent. The countries were last night still battling to reach an agreement on trade restrictions, with countries such as Argentina and Russia strongly opposing any reference to export bans or tariffs. India, Egypt, China and Vietnam have also restricted their exports of wheat, soyabeans and rice. Mr Schafer said trade restrictions "actually exacerbate" food price increases. "When there is a lock-out from the marketplace . . prices [for agricultural commodities] go up," he said. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008