The global food price index also increased in April, for the second consecutive month, as a result of the increase in the prices of meat, vegetable oils and cereals, which counteracted the decreases in the prices of sugar and dairy products, the Organization announced on Friday United Nations for Food and Agriculture (FAO), reports Reuters.
The FAO publishes its own Food Price Index every month, which measures price changes in a food basket consisting of: cereals, vegetable oils, dairy, meat and sugar.
In April of this year, this index stood at an average of 119.1 points, increasing by 0.3% compared to the level of 118.8 points recorded in March. However, the value from April 2024 is lower by 9.6% compared to the value recorded in April last year.
The increase in April was primarily due to a 1.6% increase in meat prices. According to the FAO, higher prices for poultry, beef and mutton offset the slight decline in pork prices due to weak demand in Western Europe and China.
Cereal prices also increased by 0.3%, after three months of decline, supported by higher corn export prices. A similar increase was recorded in the case of vegetable oil prices.
In contrast, sugar prices fell by 4.4% in April compared to March and by 14.7% compared to April last year, on the back of improved forecasts regarding world supply. Sugar production is forecast to be above expectations in India and Thailand, while improving weather conditions in Brazil eased fears about the next sugarcane harvest, FAO said.
Also, dairy prices fell by 0.3% overall, after six consecutive months of decline, even though the price of butter continued to rise in April due to reduced stocks in Western Europe.
Separately, the FAO released a new report on cereal supply and demand on Friday. The FAO raised its forecast for world cereal production in the 2023/24 season to 2.846 billion tonnes, from 2.841 billion tonnes it estimated last month, on the back of new information received from Myanmar and Pakistan.
Also on Friday, the FAO adjusted its estimates for world wheat production in 2024 to 791 million tonnes, from 796 million tonnes it estimated last month, due to the fact that the areas sown with wheat in the European Union were more smaller than expected.
