The global food price index calculated by the United Nations agency (FAO) fell for the sixth consecutive month in September, falling from all-time highs recorded earlier this year, when it was boosted by the war in Ukraine.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Friday that its price index, which tracks the most traded food commodities globally, averaged 136.3 points last month, down from a revised 137.9 in August.
The August number was previously placed at 138.0.
The index fell from a record 159.7 in March. The September reading was, however, 5.5% higher than the previous year.
The latest drop was driven by a 6.6% monthly decline in vegetable oil prices, with increased supply and lower oil prices contributing to the decline.
Sugar, dairy and meat prices all fell by less than a percentage point.
On the other hand, the FAO cereal price index rose 1.5% month-on-month in September, with wheat prices rising 2.2% on concerns over dry crop conditions in Argentina and the United States, strong EU exports and greater uncertainty about access to the Black Sea by Ukrainian ports.
Rice prices rose 2.2%, in part due to concerns about the impact of recent severe floods in Pakistan.
harvests
FAO separately lowered its forecast for global cereal production in 2022 to 2.768 billion tonnes from 2.774 billion tonnes earlier.
This is 1.7% below the estimated production for 2021.
World cereal consumption in 2022/23 is expected to exceed production by 2.784 million tonnes, leading to a projected 1.6% drop in global inventories compared to 2021/22 to 848 million tonnes.
That would represent a stock-to-use ratio of 29.7%, down from 31.0% in 2021/22 but still relatively high historically, FAO said.
Source: CNN Brasil
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