Global Food Price Index Rises for 9 Consecutive Months... Increase Rate Slows Compared to Previous Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chunhan] The global food price index continued its upward trend for the ninth consecutive month, although the rate of increase slowed compared to the previous month.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on the 7th, last month's global food price index rose 2.4% from the previous month to 116.0 points. The global food price index has been monitoring international price trends for 24 items since 1990 and is published monthly by five commodity groups (grains, oils, meat, dairy, sugar).

The index began rising from 93.1 in June last year, reaching 101.2 in October, 105.4 in November, 113.2 in January, and 116.0 in February, marking nine consecutive months of increase. However, compared to January's 4.3% rise from the previous month, the increase in February slowed to about half.

The grain price index recorded 125.7 points, up 1.2% from the previous month. The sharp 17.4% surge in sorghum prices, driven by strong demand from China, led the rise in the grain price index.

The oils price index was recorded at 147.4 points, up 6.2% from the previous month. Palm oil and rapeseed oil prices rose due to lower-than-expected production forecasts in major exporting countries such as Southeast Asia and the European Union (EU), while sunflower oil prices increased due to a shortage of export volumes from the Black Sea region.

The sugar price index rose 6.4% from the previous month to 100.2 points. The increase was influenced by predictions that Brazil, the world's largest sugar exporter, would produce ethanol instead of sugar due to rising crude oil prices. Although production in other major countries also decreased, steady demand growth in the Asian region further pushed prices up.

The dairy price index recorded 113.0 points, up 1.7% from the previous month. Butter prices rose due to increased internal demand in major exporting countries in Western Europe and import demand from China, while whole milk powder prices increased due to rising import demand and concerns over reduced export volumes caused by dry weather in New Zealand.

World grain production for 2020?2021 is expected to reach 2.7613 billion tons, up 1.9% compared to 2019?2020, and global grain consumption is projected to increase by 2.0% to 2.7657 billion tons. During the same period, global grain ending stocks are forecast to decrease by 0.9% to 811.1 million tons.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.