FAO's world food price index has fallen for 11 months in a row

The average value of the food price index, which is determined by FAO experts, has been declining for 11 consecutive months, and in February it decreased by 0.6% compared to January to 129.8 points, which is 18.7% or 29.9 points lower than the peak March 2022

The decrease in the index in February is caused by a sharp drop in the prices of vegetable oils and dairy products, and a slight decrease in the prices of grains and meat, which compensated for the sharp increase in the prices of sugar.

Thus, compared to January, the average value of the FAO grain price index in February decreased by 0.1% to 147.3p, which is 1.4% higher than in February 2022.

World wheat prices rose 0.3% in February, after falling for the previous three months, on the back of dry weather in the main hard winter wheat growing areas of the US and strong demand for Australian wheat. However, competition between global exporters limited further price growth. World corn prices rose by only 0.1% compared to January.

The average value of the price index for vegetable oils in February fell by 3.2% or 4.5p to the lowest level since the beginning of 2021 at 135.9p due to the fall in global prices for palm, soybean, sunflower and canola oil.