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The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (FAO) announced on September 7th (local time) that the world food price index for September fell 1.1% from the previous month to 136.3 points.
It rose to a record high of 159.7 points in March just after the outbreak of the Ukrainian war. However, it has fallen for six months in a row, following 158.4 in April, 158.1 in May, 154.7 in June, 140.7 in July, and 137.9 in August.
FAO revised its World Food Price Index to 137.9 from 138.0 in August. However, it is still 5.5% higher than the same period last year, and has not yet recovered to the pre-war level.
Since 1996, the FAO has been monitoring international price trends for 24 items, compiling and announcing monthly food price indexes for five items, including grains, oils, meats, dairy products, and sugar.
Vegetable oil prices plummeted by 6.6% month-on-month, leading the decline in overall food prices. FAO explained that increased supplies and lower crude oil prices acted as factors to lower vegetable oil prices.
In addition, sugar, dairy and meat prices all fell by less than 1%, acting as a downward factor for the global food price index.
Meanwhile, the grain price index increased by 1.5% from the previous month. This is due to heightened war tensions, including the signing of a Russian mobilization order and an annexation of four occupied territories in Ukraine. Wheat prices rose by 2.2% as Ukrainian cereal supply and demand uncertainties increased. Rice prices also rose 2.2% month-on-month due to the recent severe floods in Pakistan.
The FAO has cut its forecast for world cereal production this year to 2.768 billion tonnes from 2.744 billion tonnes. This is a 1.7% decrease from the previous year.
2022/10/12 09:46 KST
