|
|
|
You can get e-magazine links on WhatsApp. Click here
|
|
|
|
|
|
Global food prices fall in Oct; Dairy averages 27% below all-time high
|
|
Friday, 03 November, 2017, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
|
|
Rome
|
Global food prices dipped in October, led lower by dairy products, which averaged 27 per cent below its all-time high reached in early 2011.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Food Price Index averaged 176.4 points for the month of October 2017, down 1.3 per cent from September, but up 2.5 per cent from a year earlier.
It is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities.
The FAO Dairy Price Index declined 4.2 per cent during the month, marking its first drop since May 2017.
International quotations for butter and whole milk powder eased in October, as importers held back on purchases, awaiting new supplies from Oceania, while the low demand and ample intervention stocks in the European Union (EU) pushed skim milk powder prices down.
The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index also declined, by 1.1 per cent from its September value, as key palm and soy oil prices eased in light of positive production prospects.
The FAO Sugar Price Index declined 0.7 per cent, influenced by weakening in the currency of Brazil, the largest exporter, and on the back of prospects for larger beet crops in the EU and a bigger output in the Russian Federation.
The FAO Meat Price Index declined 0.9 per cent, as intensifying competition among pigmeat exporters, combined with sluggish import demand, drove international quotations lower.
The FAO Cereal Price Index edged up a notch, 0.4 per cent led by higher rice prices, even as wheat quotations were generally lower.
Cereal production on course for a record high
Global cereal production in 2017 is forecast to surpass the 2016 peak by a small margin.
This was stated by FAO's latest Cereal Supply and Demand Brief, which also released alongside the Food Price Index.
The worldwide production of coarse grains is set to reach a new record, thanks to expansion in South America and southern Africa.
While wheat production is forecast to decline slightly, due mostly to lower harvest volumes foreseen in the United States of America, the global rice output is expected to remain broadly stable.
FAO’s latest estimates point to a one per cent expansion in world cereal utilisation in the coming year, with world cereal stocks on course to set a new record level by the close of seasons in 2018.
The global stocks of rice and coarse grains are projected to hit record highs, while those of wheat already have.
Given the ample size of export supplies, competition among major exporters in the year ahead is expected to remain stiff, with expanding world trade volumes in maize, sorghum and rice offsetting an expected decline in wheat.
FAO will offer more detailed information and analyses of key food commodity trends on November 9, 2017, when it releases the next issue of Food Outlook.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|