The reference index of international food prices recorded an 11th consecutive month of decline in February, falling 18.7% from its peak in March 2022 and 0.6% from January this year, the FAO said this Friday.
Data released this Friday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) shows that the core world food price index fell again in February this year, a trend that has been observed for 11 months, by an average of 129.8 points.
At stake, according to the FAO, is an 18.7% decline from a peak in March 2022 and a 0.6% decline from January 2023, which attributed the decline to “a fall in the prices of vegetable oil and dairy products, which more than offset the sharp rise in the price of sugar.”
In information published on its website, FAO indicates that in February, the sugar price index rose by 6.9% compared to January to the highest level in six years, mainly due to a “downward revision of the production forecast for 2022/23 in India.” and favorable crop prospects from other suppliers combined with lower international crude oil prices and ethanol prices in Brazil.”
For its part, the Cereal Price Index was virtually unchanged in February from the previous month of this year, as “concerns about dry conditions in the United States and strong demand for supplies from Australia have been largely offset by strong competition among exporters.” , the message says. FAO.
International rice prices, on the other hand, were down 1% “due to a slowdown in commercial activity in most major Asian exporters” and the vegetable oil price index was down 3.2% from January “with world rice palm prices “. , soybean, sunflower and rapeseed are all lower.”
The FAO Milk Price Index fell 2.7% during the month, with world prices for butter and skimmed milk powder showing the sharpest declines, while meat prices remained virtually unchanged since January.
Just this Friday, the FAO released its forecast for global wheat production in 2023, with the UN agency projecting a crop of around 784 million tonnes, which, if realized, would be the second-largest ever recorded, driven largely by US farmers. who expanded their area, encouraged by the rise in cereal prices.