WORLD – Global food prices are on the rise as poultry, bovine, and ovine meat prices experience an upward trend, leading to an increase in the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) basket of food commodities for the month of April.

According to the latest data from the FAO, the Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of various globally-traded food commodities, is currently averaging 119.1 points in April, marking a 0.3% increase from the previous month.

The FAO Meat Price Index has seen a notable increase of 1.6%, with poultry, bovine, and ovine meat prices driving the surge.

However, world pig meat prices have witnessed a decline, attributed to sluggish internal demand in western Europe and persistently lackluster demand from leading importers, notably China.

In addition, the sub-index for cereals has risen by 0.3% after three consecutive months of decline.

This increase is attributed to stabilized global wheat export prices, despite concerns about unfavorable crop conditions in key producing regions such as the EU, Russia, and the US.

Maize export prices have also seen an uptick due to high demand and logistical disruptions in Ukraine and production concerns in Brazil.

Furthermore, the FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index has increased by 0.3%, reaching a 13-month high.

This rise is driven by higher quotations for sunflower and rapeseed oil, which have offset slightly lower prices for palm and soy oil.

However, the sugar index has witnessed a decline of 4.4% from March, standing 14.7% below its level in April 2023.

This decline is attributed to larger-than-anticipated output in India and Thailand, along with improved weather conditions in Brazil.

In light of the new index data, the FAO has revised its forecast for global cereal production in 2023 to 2.85 billion tonnes, representing a 1.2% increase from the previous year. 

Additionally, the forecast for global wheat production in 2024 has been adjusted to 791 million tonnes, reflecting a slight decrease from previous expectations but still indicating a 0.5% increase from 2023.

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