World food prices fell slightly in December as international prices for vegetable oils and sugar fell significantly, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported. The food items with decreased prices include cereals, vegetable oil and sugar.
For instance, the FAO Cereal Price Index decreased 0.6% from November. FAO said this is due to falling wheat export quotations amid improved supplies following southern hemisphere harvests. The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index declined 3.3% in December. The agency said weaker quotations for palm oil and sunflower oil reflected subdued global import demand linked to concerns over rising COVID-19 cases.
The FAO Sugar Price Index decreased by 3.1% from November, reaching a five-month low. The decrease reflects concerns over the possible impact of the Omicron COVID-19 variant on global demand and weaker Brazilian currency, and lower ethanol prices.
Meanwhile, the FAO Meat Price Index was broadly stable in December. Still, in 2021, the Meat Price Index was 12.7% higher than in 2020.
Overall, the FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly traded food commodities, revealed that food prices averaged 133.7 points in December. There was a 0.9% decline from November, but it is still 23.1% higher from December 2020. The food agency revealed that its benchmark index of food commodity prices in 2021 averaged sharply higher at 125.7 points — as much as 28.1% more than in 2020.
Lastly, FAO said only the dairy sub-index posted a monthly rise in December, rising 1.8% from the previous month. The increase is due to international quotations for butter, and milk powders increased amid lower milk production in Western Europe and Oceania. (Image from Unsplash)
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