Barbados Times

Barbados, Caribbean & World News
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

World food prices fall for 12th month running in March — UN

World food prices fall for 12th month running in March — UN

The UN’s food agency’s world price index fell in March for a 12th consecutive month, and is now down 20.5 percent from a record high hit one year ago following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Reuters.
The Food and Agriculture Organization’s price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 126.9 points last month against 129.7 for February, the agency said on Friday. It was the lowest reading since July 2021.

The February reading was originally given as 129.8.

A combination of ample supplies, subdued import demand and the extension of a deal allowing the safe export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea contributed to the drop, FAO said.

The Rome-based agency said the decline in the index reflected lower prices for cereals, vegetable oils and dairy products, which offset rises in sugar and meat prices.

“While prices dropped at the global level, they are still very high and continue to increase in domestic markets, posing additional challenges to food security,” Maximo Torero, FAO’s chief economist said in a statement.

“This is particularly so in net food importing developing countries, with the situation aggravated by the depreciation of their currencies against the US dollar or the euro and a mounting debt burden,” he added.

The FAO cereal price index fell 5.6 percent month-on-month in March, with wheat registering a 7.1 percent drop, maize a 4.6 percent decline and rice easing 3.2 percent.

Vegetable oils fell 3.0 percent, some 47.7 percent down on the level the index hit in March 2022, while the dairy index was down 0.8 percent.

By contrast, sugar rose 1.5 percent to its highest level since October 2016, hit by concerns over declining production prospects in India, Thailand and China. The meat price index rose by 0.8 percent.

Higher Wheat Production

In a separate report on cereals supply and demand, the FAO raised its forecast for world wheat production in 2023, now pegged at 786 million tons — 1.3 percent below the 2022 level but nonetheless the second largest outturn on record.

“Near-record sown areas are expected in Asia, while dry conditions are impacting North Africa and southern Europe,” FAO said.

FAO also raised its forecast for world cereal production in 2022 to 2.777 billion tons, just 1.2 percent down from the previous year. World rice production in 2022/23 was seen at 516 million tons, 1.6 percent below the record 2021/22 harvest.

World cereal utilization in the 2022/23 period was seen at 2.779 billion tons, FAO said, down 0.7 percent from 2021/22. World cereal stocks by the close of the 2022/2023 seasons are expected to ease by 0.3 percent from their opening levels to 850 million tons.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Barbados Times
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×