Dairy products, vegetable oil force food prices up in September – FAO

The Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, on Thursday said global food prices rose slightly in September as firmer prices of vegetable oils and dairy products offset declining prices for staple cereal grains.

According to the UN body, the increases outpaced inflation in many countries of the world.

The FAO, in its report Thursday, said its Food Price Index came in at 178.4 points in September, to gain 1.4 points or 0.8 per cent from August and 7.4 points or 4.3 per cent above September 2016.

The FAO Food Price Index is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities.

“Firmer prices in the vegetable oil and dairy sectors were behind the small month-on-month rise in the value” of the overall index, the FAO said in a statement.

The FAO Cereal Price Index declined by 1.0 per cent, as maize and wheat quotations fell in step with strong supply and harvest prospects. FAO expects the current growing season to yield record worldwide cereals output.

“World cereal stocks by the close of seasons in 2018 are now forecast at a new all-time high of 720.5 million tonnes,” said the FAO.

Consumer price inflation is expected to come in at 2.3 per cent this year in industrialised nations.