Friday, April 5, 2024

World food prices increased


The United Nations food agency's world price index increased in March from a three-year low, boosted by increases for vegetable oils, meat and dairy products.


It averaged 118.3 points in March, up from a revised 117.0 points the previous month, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Agency said.


The February reading was the lowest for the index since February 2021 and marked a seventh consecutive monthly decline.


International food prices have fallen sharply from a record peak in March, 2022, at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of the Ukraine.


The FAO's latest monthly reading was 7.7% below the year-earlier level, it said.


In March, agency's vegetable oil price index went up by eight per cent from February, the dairy index gained 2.9 per cent for a sixth straight monthly rise while the meat index went up by 1.7 per cent.


Those gains outweighed declines for cereals, which went down by 2.6 per cent from February and sugar fell by 5.4 per cent.


Wheat led the decline in cereals amid strong export competition and cancelled purchases by China, offsetting a slight rise for corn prices partly due to logistical difficulties in the Ukraine, the FAO said.