World food prices hold firm in June, UN’s FAO reports
Vegetable oil, sugar, and dairy price gains offset cereal price drops, with FAO raising 2024 cereal production forecast to record high on improved prospects for coarse grains and maize harvests in Argentina and Brazil.
FAO price index steady at 120.6 points in June, unchanged from May, after hitting three-year low in February. (File Photo) The United Nations world food price index held steady in June data showed on Friday, with increases in vegetable oil, sugar and dairy products offset by a fall in the price of cereals.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 120.6 points in June, unchanged from May. The May figure was revised from an initial reading of 120.4. The FAO index hit a three-year low in February as food prices receded from a record peak set in March 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The June reading was 2.5% down from a year earlier and 24.8% below its 2022 high. Cereal prices fell 3.0% month on month amid slightly improved production prospects in some major exporting countries, including Kazakhstan and Ukraine, the FAO said. Maize export prices also dropped, with production in Argentina and Brazil expected to be larger than earlier thought.
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