2023-05-05 13:31:29
In decline for a year following their surge linked to the effects of the war in Ukraine, world food prices rebounded slightly in April, under the effect of a surge in sugar prices, the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture said on Friday. food and agriculture (FAO). The meat price index rose, while those for cereals, dairy products and vegetable oils continued to fall.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks changes in international prices for a basket of commodities, rose 0.6% from its March level. It is well below its level of a year ago (-19.7%), when the markets felt the effects of the war in Ukraine, but remains at a high level, well above the indices for 2020 and 2021 at the same period.
The FAO index of sugar price however, increased by 17.6% compared to March, reaching a record level since October 2011. The reason: a drop in production expected in India, China and Thailand, linked in particular to the drought.
In addition, the “slow start” of the sugar cane harvest in Brazil and the rise in international crude oil prices, which reinforces the request for ethanol made from sugar cane, drive prices up.
With the exception of meat and rice prices, which also rebounded slightly, all the other indices continued to decline in April. That of cereals thus lost 1.7% compared to March.
The wheat price fell by 2.3% over one month, to reach its lowest level since July 2021. This is mainly due to the “significant export availabilities from Russia and Australia”, favorable weather conditions in Europe and the agreement authorizing the transit of grain in the eastern countries of the European Union.
World maize prices fell 3.2% in April, “mainly due to increased seasonal supplies in South America “. The FAO points out that Brazilian production should reach a record level in 2023. The country might then become the world’s leading exporter of this commodity, a position it reached only once in 2013. Argentina should reverse to see its production drop due to the drought.
The prices ofbarley fell 4.3% month on month, “reflecting the lack of global demand and the fallout from weak international corn and wheat markets.”
The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index fell 1.3% from March. A continuous decline for five months, which “reflects the combined effect of the stability of world prices for palme and the fall in prices for soybean, rapeseed and sunflower oils”. The latter are driven down by the pressure of global supply.
“It is important to continue to monitor price developments and upside factors very closely: as economies recover from a significant downturn, demand will pick up, exerting a upward pressure on food prices,” FAO Chief Economist Máximo Torero said in a statement.
At the same time, “the rise in rice prices is extremely worrying, and it is essential that the corridor for the export of cereals in the Black Sea be renewed (before it expires on May 18, editor’s note) to avoid any new peak in the prices of wheat and corn”, he underlined.
1683297271
#Small #rebound #world #food #prices #April #FAO