Global food prices dipped in August, mainly as the prospect of bumper cereal harvests pushed up expectations for larger grain inventories. The FAO Food Price Index declined 1.3% from July, averaging 176.6 points in August.
Prices for major food commodities in July hit their lowest average monthly level since September 2009 as sharp drops in the prices of dairy products and vegetable oils more than offset some increases for those of sugar and cereals. Meat prices, meanwhile, remained stable.
Major food commodity prices declined again in May, hitting an almost six-year low as cereal prices fell substantially amid a favorable outlook for this year's harvests. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 166.8 points in May, down 1.4% from April and as much as 20.7% from a year earlier.
FAO's monthly food price index was stable in October, as sugar and vegetable oil prices rose to offset declines in dairy and meat prices. The Food Price Index dipped to 192.3, technically, its seventh consecutive monthly decline, but a marginal 0.2% drop from the revised September figure.
The FAO Food Price Index was down for the second consecutive month in May, continuing its retreat from the 10-month high it experienced in March. Prices fell as generally ample supplies weighed on international prices for most commodities included in the Index.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 199.1 points in September 2013, 2.3 points (1%) below its August value and down 11 points (or 5.4%) since the beginning of the year. The decline in September marked the fifth consecutive decrease in the value of the index and was driven by a sharp fall in the international prices of cereals, whereas prices of all other components of the index, namely dairy, oils, meat and sugar, rose slightly.
The outlook for global cereal supply in the 2013/14 marketing season remains generally favorable despite downward adjustments to forecasts for world cereal production and closing stocks, according to the latest issue of FAO quarterly Crop Prospects and Food Situation report.Despite this downward adjustment, world cereal production would still surpass the 2012 level by nearly 8%.
Consumer prices in Uruguay during July increased 0.77% while twelve-month inflation reached 8.75%, which is the highest since last February, and well ahead of the 8.21% to June, according to the latest release from the country’s National Stats Institute, INE.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 211 points in November 2012, down 3 points (1.5%) from October and the lowest since June 2012. Except for dairy, international prices of all the commodity groups included in the Index fell in November, with sugar undergoing the sharpest dip, followed by oils and cereals. The decline puts the November index value nearly 3% below one year ago.