World index of food commodities: a small drop in January

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has reported that the world market index for food commodities was down in January, averaging 124.9 points over the month and dropping 1.6% from December.

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2025/2-3.

Behind the decline we find a sharp reduction in international quotations for vegetable oils and sugar. Tracking monthly price changes for key food commodities in international trade, the FAO food price index was 6.2% higher than a year ago, but 22% below its peak in March 2022. The FAO sugar price index decreased by 6.8% from December and by 18.5% from a year earlier, mainly due to an improving global supply outlook. Vegetable oil prices were 5.6% lower than the previous month, but were still 24.9% higher than a year ago. Meanwhile, the FAO cereal price index rose 0.3% from December but remained 6.9% below the January 2024 level. //