The U-N’s Food and Agriculture Organisation says global food prices posted their sharpest increase in more than three years in October.
Advertisement
According to the FAO’s Food Price Index released this Thursday (5th) in Rome, the index reached 162 points in October, a hike of 3.9% over September.
FAO said adverse weather was behind sharp rises in sugar, palm oil, and dairy prices.
The sub-index for sugar led the overall rise, jumping 17 percent from September as excessive rains raised concerns in Brazil as did excessive dryness in the Philippines, India, Thailand, South Africa and Vietnam.
The FAO Meat Price Index remained stable, while cereal prices rose by a modest 1.7% – pushed up in part by growing concerns over dry weather conditions affecting wheat crops in Ukraine and southern parts of the Russian Federation.
“The increase in rice prices marked declines in the fragrant and Japonica rice segments”, the agency said.
The FAO cut its forecast for world cereal output in 2015 to 2.530 billion tonnes, – a few 1.1 percent below last year’s record, from a previous estimate of 2.534 billion tonnes given last month.
In Asia, “the decrease mainly concerned India, reduced by 1m tonnes, to reflect lower-than-previously anticipated plantings for the kharif corn crop, and unfavourable rains”, the FAO said.
The vegetable oil price index rose 6.2%, partly on worries the El Nino weather phenomenon would hit Indonesian palm oil supplies next year.
The revision reflected in the main a higher forecast for the European Union wheat harvest, the world’s biggest, which has been upgraded by other commentators recently too.
“World cereal stocks are likely to stay at an agreeable level, with worldwide wheat inventories growing further, coming to their highest close in 15 years”, the FAO said.
Advertisement
According to the FOA, the Food Price Index is a traded- weighed index tracking prices on global markets including major food commodities such as: meat, cereal, dairy products, sugar and vegetable oils.
