Good news in the fight against inflation – world food prices have fallen for the second month running.
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has reported that world food commodity prices fell in October, adding to a drop in September, thanks to ample global supplies and
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks a basket of globally traded food commodities, averaged 126.4 points in October, down from a revised 128.5 in September. That’s 21.1% below its record high, set in March 2022.
The FAO reports that lower price indices for cereals, dairy products, meat and sugar in October outweighed an increase in the vegetable oil index.
The report says:
The FAO Cereal Price Index fell 1.3% in October and was 9.5% lower than a year ago, with wheat price falling thanks to “ample global supplies, favourable production prospects in the southern hemisphere where harvesting is underway, and steady progress of winter wheat planting across the northern hemisphere”.
Meat prices fell 2.5% in the month, but were 4.8% higher than a year ago. October saw sharp drops in pig and poultry meat prices and a fall in ovine meat prices, partially offset by higher bovine meat quotations.
Dairy prices fell 3.4% in October, but were 2.7% higher than a year ago.Butter fell by 6.5%, due to “ample export availabilities” from the EU and New Zealand. Whole milk powder by 6.0%, skim milk powder by 4.0%, and cheese by 1.5%.
The biggest losses were on the FAO Sugar Price Index, which dropped by 5.3% during the month and was 27.4% lower than a year ago. The drop was mainly driven by expectations of ample global sugar supplies, with favourable weather in Brazil’s key southern growing regions, and expectations of higher output from Thailand and India.
Also, lower international crude oil prices pushed down sugar prices, due to lower demand by the biofuel sector.
However, the Vegetable Oil Price Index rose 1.5% in October to its highest level since July 2022, due to higher quotations for palm, rapeseed, soy and sunflower oils.
