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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 165.4 points
last month, against a marginally revised 167.7 in August.
The August figure was previously given as 167.6.
FAO said global cereals output in 2018 was seen at 2.591 billion
tonnes, up three million tonnes on the previous forecast given
in September, but still down 63 million tonnes, or 2.4 percent,
from 2017's record production level.
FAO's forecast for world wheat production in 2018 was almost
unchanged on 722.4 million tonnes, the smallest since 2013.
The U.N. body's Cereal Price Index averaged almost 164 points in
September, down 2.8 percent from August.
Among the major cereals, maize export quotations registered the
sharpest month-on-month decline down some 4 percent, mostly on
expectations of a very large crop in the United States and good
supply prospects globally.
Wheat price quotations also fell, mainly on continued strong
sales and shipments from Russia.
By contrast, the FAO Sugar Price Index averaged 161.4 points
last month, up 2.6 percent from August. FAO said the increase
was largely linked to the ongoing harvesting in Brazil, the
world’s largest sugar producer and exporter.
"Drought conditions in Brazil during the critical growing season
are seen to have had negative impacts on sugarcane yields, with
harvested cane volumes falling below expectations," FAO said.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; editing by Giulia Segreti and
Jason Neely)
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