[ad_1]
ROME, September 1 (Reuters) – Global food prices surged in August after two consecutive months of decline, driven by sharp increases for sugar, vegetable oils and some grains, the United Nations agency said on Thursday. ‘food.
The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) also said in a statement that global cereal harvests will reach nearly 2.788 billion tonnes in 2021, down from its previous estimate of 2.817. billion tonnes but still up from 2020 levels.
The FAO food price index, which tracks the international prices of the world’s most traded food products, averaged 127.4 points last month from 123.5 in July.
The July figure was previously 123.0.
On a year-over-year basis, prices rose 32.9% in August.
The FAO cereal price index rose 3.4% in August from the previous month, with weaker crop forecasts in several major exporting countries pushing world wheat prices up 8.8% in month-on-month, when they barely increased by 9.0%.
In contrast, international prices for maize and rice have declined.
The FAO sugar index rose 9.6% from July, driven by concerns over frost damage to crops in Brazil, the world’s largest sugar exporter. Good production prospects in India and the European Union have helped to alleviate these concerns to some extent. Vegetable oil prices rose 6.7%, with palm oil prices reaching all-time highs amid lingering concerns over production levels and resulting stock reductions in Malaysia. The prices of rapeseed oil and sunflower oil have also increased.
Meat prices edged up in August as large purchases from China supported sheep and beef prices and strong import demand from East Asia and the Middle East has pushed up poultry prices, FAO said.
The dairy product price index fell slightly over the month.
The FAO said the decline in its estimate of world cereal production this year was triggered by persistent drought conditions in several major producing countries.
Among major grains, forecast for wheat production saw the largest downward revision – down 15.2 million tonnes since July to 769.5 million tonnes – mainly due to adverse weather conditions in the states United, Canada, Kazakhstan and Russia.
The forecast for global cereal use in 2021/22 has been reduced by 1.7 million tonnes from July to 2.809 billion tonnes, still 1.4% more than in 2020/21.
The estimate of world cereal stocks at the end of the 2021/22 seasons has been lowered from 27.0 million tonnes since July to 809 million tonnes, indicating a decrease of 0.9% from the stock levels recorded at the start. of the period, FAO said.
Editing by Crispian Balmer
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Source link
