Food price rise for first time in 13 months
Sugar price index highest since October 2011
Rise in Asian imports lift meat prices
The FAO Food Price Index — an indicator of food costs globally — averaged 127.2 points in April, up 0.6% on the month, the first uptick following 13 straight months of declines, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, said.
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FAO’s Sugar Price Index averaged at 149.4 points, up 17.6% from March and at its highest level since October 2011, driven by availability concerns in the 2022-23 season, FAO said May 5.
Lower production forecasts from India, China, Thailand and the EU coupled with a slow harvest in Brazil pushed prices higher, according to the FAO.
The FAO Meat Price Index averaged at 114.5 points in April, up 1.3% from March with pig meat seeing the sharpest increases due to increased imports from Asian countries, the FAO said. The agency added that the world poultry meat prices also rebounded on higher Asian demand and supply limitations from the spread of avian flu.
Vegetable oil prices fall
The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index averaged at 130 points in April, down 1.3% on the month due to stable palm oil prices and lower soy, sunflower and rapeseed oil prices.
A potentially record soybean crop in Brazil weighed on world soybean oil prices while global prices of rapeseed and sunflower oils also kept falling, underpinned by lingering abundant global exportable supplies, FAO said.
Cereal prices decline on month
The FAO cereal prices index averaged at 136.1 points in April, down 1.7% on the month, the report said. The index value was also 19.8% lower on the year.
“International wheat prices declined by 2.3% in April to their lowest level since July 2021, principally driven by large exportable availabilities in the Russian Federation and Australia,” the report said.
The FAO cereal supply and demand brief projected global wheat output in marketing year 2022-23 (July-June) at a record 800.4 million mt in May, up from 796.6 million mt a month ago.
It has also scaled up global wheat trade forecast to 200.1 million mt as against 199.4 million mt a month ago.
The agency added that favorable crop conditions in Europe, and the agreement at the end of April allowing Ukrainian grains to transit through the EU countries contributed to the fall in prices.
Global corn prices also fell 3.2% in April, mostly due to higher seasonal supplies in South America as harvesting continued and conducive crop prospects pointed to a record output in Brazil, it said.
The FAO cereal supply and demand brief has forecast global coarse grains output at 1,467.5 million mt, as against 1,464.3 million mt projected a month ago.
It has forecast global coarse grains trade at 218 million mt, compared with 216.7 million mt a month ago.
