World food prices broadly steady in October

FAO food price index virtually unchanged from September with rising cereal prices offsetting decreases in other staples.

Global food price were broadly unchanged in October with rising cereal prices offsetting decreases in other staples, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Friday.

The FAO food price index was virtually unchanged at 135.9 in October, a 9-month low. However, the figure was 2% higher than a year earlier.

The index measures monthly changes in international prices of five major food commodity groups – cereal, meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar.

The cereal price index rose 3% from September, led by wheat prices that have risen due to uncertainties related to the Black Sea Grain Initiative between Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine and a downward revision for supplies in the US.

The vegetable oil price index dropped 1.6% in October from a month ago, driven by world lower prices of palm, soy and rapeseed oils, which more than offset higher sunflower seed oil quotations.

The FAO sugar price index fell 0.6% month-on-month, bolstered by improved production prospects in India.

The FAO dairy price index decreased for the fourth consecutive month, down 1.7% from September.

The meat price index slipped 1.4% from the previous month, with world prices of all meat types registering drops on broadly subdued global import demand and increasing exportable supplies.