Global food prices fell in January, according to the FAO

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Together with the decrease in January, the index has already fallen by 28.6 points (17.9 percent) compared to the peak reached in March 2022. The weakening of the index in January was caused by the decrease in the price indices of vegetable oils, dairy products and sugar, while the prices of cereals and meat remained roughly stable.

The FAO food price index is a trade-weighted indicator

It takes into account the international market prices of the five most important food commodities – vegetable oils, cereals, meat, dairy products and sugar. The FAO cereal price index averaged 147.4 points in January, which is 0.1 percent higher than in December and 6.7 points (4.8 percent) higher than a year ago. Among the main cereals, the world market prices of rice and corn rose, while those of barley and wheat fell in January. The vegetable oil price index averaged 140.4 points in January, which is a monthly decrease of 4.2 points (2.9 percent), almost 25 percent below the level of a year ago. In January, the world market prices of palm, soybean, sunflower and rapeseed oil fell. The price index for dairy products averaged 136.2 points in January, 2.0 points (1.4 percent) lower than in December, making it the lowest in 12 months. In January, the international price of butter and milk powder fell in particular.

The FAO meat price index averaged 113.6 points in January, at least 0.1 points (0.1 percent) lower than in December

In January, the price drop continued for the seventh month, but it was still 1.5 points (1.3 percent) higher than last January. In January of this year, world market prices mainly fell for poultry, beef and pork. The FAO sugar price index averaged 115.8 points in January, 1.3 points (1.1 percent) lower than in December, which is the first decrease after the significant rise in prices registered in the previous two months.

MTI