FAO: World Food Price Index Rises for Second Month, Meat and Grain Prices Up

The group said on Friday that its price index, which measures changes in the prices of the world’s most widely used staple food products, averaged 119.1 points in April, up from an average of 118.8 points in the previous month. a month before.

However, April’s reading was down by about 7.4 percent compared to the same month last year, after registering the lowest level in three years in February.

The index hit a three-year low in February, with the continued decline in food prices, after reaching an unprecedented peak in March 2022 with the start of the Russia-Ukraine crop export war .

Food price index
The meat price index rose at the fastest pace in April, around 1.6 percent per month. The grain index rose, ending a three-month streak of decline, supported by higher grain export prices. Vegetable oil prices also rose, continuing their gains and reaching a 13-month high, supported by safflower and sunflower oil prices.

The sugar index fell sharply by 4.4 percent compared to March, which is 14.7 percent below its level a year ago, amid improved global supply expectations. The milk price index fell, ending a six-month winning streak.

Grain production
In a separate report on cereal supply and demand, FAO raised its estimate for cereal production in 2023-24 to 2.846 billion tonnes from 2.841 billion in last month’s forecast, an increase of 1.2 percent year-on-year , after updating data for Myanmar and Pakistan.

As for the forecast for 2024, the United Nations agency lowered its forecast for wheat production to 791 million tons from 796 million tons in last month’s forecast, indicating a further decline in wheat cultivation. in the European Union than previously expected.

However, the revised expectations for wheat production this year exceeded last year’s level by about 0.5 percent.