Global food prices dropped slightly in October, the seventh consecutive monthly fall, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced on Friday.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly-traded food commodities, averaged 135.9 points last month, negligibly below its level in September. The index is now 14.9 percent down from its all-time high recorded in March 2022, but remains 2.0 percent above its level in October 2021.
Prices for all food groups, except for cereals, decreased. Global cereal prices rose 3.0 percent, with wheat up 3.2 percent, mostly reflecting uncertainties related to exports from Black Sea region and also a downward revision for U.S. supplies. International rice prices increased 1.0%.
The vegetable oil index fell 1.6 percent in October and was down nearly 20 percent on its year-earlier level. Dairy prices fell 1.7 percent, meat quotations were down 1.4 percent and sugar prices decreased 0.6 percent.
In separate cereal supply and demand estimates, the FAO lowered its forecast for global cereal production in 2022 to 2.764 billion tons from a previous projection of 2.768 billion tons in October. That is 1.8% below the estimated output for 2021.