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The
Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) price index, which
tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 118.0
points in January, down from 119.1 the previous month, the
agency said on Friday.
The January reading was the lowest since February 2021.
"Global wheat export prices declined in January driven by strong
competition among exporters and the arrival of recently
harvested supplies in the southern hemisphere countries," the
FAO said in its monthly update.
The FAO also said maize (corn) prices fell sharply, reflecting
improved crop conditions and the start of the harvest in
Argentina and larger supplies in the United States.
The meat price index declined for the seventh consecutive month
as abundant supplies from leading exporting countries drove down
international prices of poultry, bovine and pig meats, the FAO
said.
In a separate report, the FAO said world cereal production in
2023 was on track to hit an all-time record high of 2.836
billion metric tons – up 1.2% from 2022.
Global coarse grain output was pegged at an all-time high of
1.523 billion tons, following a 12-million-ton upward adjustment
this month.
"The bulk of the revision reflects new official data from
Canada, China (mainland), Turkey and the U.S., where a
combination of higher yields and larger harvested areas than
previously expected has led to higher maize (corn) production
estimates," the FAO said.
(Reporting by Nigel Hunt; editing by Jason Neely and Emelia
Sithole-Matarise)
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