The reference index of international prices of food raw materials fell for the twelfth consecutive month in March, with 2.1% less compared to February and 20.5% less compared to the same month in 2022, reported the FAO.
This decline in the index is mainly due to the fall in world prices for cereals and vegetable oils, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The UN agency reported this Friday that the food price index reached an average of 126.9 points in March, 2.1% less than the previous month, and “the supply, the moderate demand for imports and the extension of the grain agreement between Ukraine and Russia contributed to the decline”.
The FAO Grain Price Index fell 5.6% from February and wheat fell 7.1%, pressured by strong production in Australia, better growing conditions in the European Union, higher supplies from the Russian Federation and Ukraine’s continuous exports from its seaports.
While world maize prices fell 4.6%, partly due to expectations of a record crop in Brazil, rice prices fell 3.2% after data on current or imminent crops in the main exporting countries including India, Vietnam and Thailand.
“Although prices have fallen globally, they remain very high and continue to rise in domestic markets, posing additional challenges for food security,” the agency explained.
“This is especially the case for developing countries that are net importers of food, whose situation is aggravated by the devaluation of their currencies against the dollar or the euro and the growing debt burden,” said Máximo Torero, chief economist. of the FAO.
Source: TSF
