World food price index little changed in April versus March: U.N. FAO

[May 03, 2018] ROME (Reuters) - World food prices edged marginally higher in April from March, with the prices of most cereals and dairy products continuing to rise while sugar fell further, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.

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 173.5 points last month against 172.8 March.

From a year earlier, food prices on international markets rose 2.7 percent in April, FAO said.

FAO predicted wheat output of 746.6 million tonnes for 2018, down 11.3 million tonnes from the near-record 2017 level.

FAO said early prospects for global cereal markets in 2018/19 were favorable.

"According to FAO's first forecasts for the 2018/19 marketing season, cereal supplies should be sufficient to meet consumption requirements. While global cereal reserves are forecast to decline, the decrease is likely to mostly concern maize," it said.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer)

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