Food prices increased further in May

FAO’s world food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, rose 2.1 percent in May to average 155.8 points.

Rising prices for most main food commodities apart from vegetable oils resulted in the index’s fourth consecutive monthly rise after it hit a near seven-year low in January.

The biggest rises were in sugar, which rose because production prospects fell in No. 2 producer India, and meat which rose because of high demand from Asia for pig meat from the European Union. (MTI)