World food prices rise 0.8 percent in September: U.N. FAO

[October 05, 2017]  ROME (Reuters) - World food prices rose slightly in September from the month before, buoyed by higher valuations in the vegetable oil and dairy sectors, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.

 A vendor reaches out for vegetables at her shop in a market in Beijing, February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee

The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 178.4 points in September, up 0.8 percent from August.

Food prices on international markets were 4.3 percent higher than their values last September.

FAO raised its forecast for global cereals output in the 2017-18 season to 2.612 billion tonnes, slightly above last year's record harvest. The agency also raised its forecast for global wheat production to 750.1 million tonnes.

(Reporting by Isla Binnie; editing by Philip Pullella)

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