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The
Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) price index, which
tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 121.4
points in August against a revised 124.0 for the previous month,
the agency said on Friday.
The July reading was initially given as 123.9 in a rebound from
a two-year low in June.
The August figure was the lowest since March 2021 and also 24%
below an all-time high reached in March 2022 in the wake of
Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The drop in the overall index reflected declines for dairy
products, vegetable oils, meat and cereals, despite a jump in
FAO's rice benchmark to a 15-year high following Indian export
restrictions, the agency said.
FAO's cereal index edged down 0.7% from July as wheat prices
fell in the face of northern hemisphere harvests while maize
(corn) fell for a seventh straight month to a near three-year
low, pressured by a record Brazilian crop and the approaching
U.S. harvest, it said.
In contrast, the agency's rice index surged by almost 10%
month-on-month as India's decision in July to ban Indica white
rice exports disrupted trade at a time of tight availabilities
ahead of new-crop harvests, FAO said.
FAO's sugar index rose 1.3% month-on-month in August, putting it
34% above the year-earlier level, supported by concerns about
impact of the El Nino weather pattern on global production.
Vegetable oil prices were down 3.1% in August, while dairy
prices slipped 4%, an eighth straight monthly drop that
reflected ample supply in Oceania and slower Chinese imports.
In a separate report on cereal supply and demand, the FAO
forecast world cereal production this year at 2.815 billion
tonnes, down slightly from a previous estimate of 2.819 billion.
The latest forecast was nonetheless up 0.9% on 2022 and matched
record output from 2021, the FAO said.
The downward revision mainly reflected a cut to projected wheat
output as dry weather affected Canada and the European Union and
heavy rain affected Chinese crops, FAO said.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Andrew
Cawthorne)
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