UNITED NATIONS, Aug 04 (APP): Global food commodity benchmarks remained largely unchanged in July, with rises in vegetable oils, meat and sugar offsetting deceases in cereals, according to UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a Rome-based UN agency.
This marked the second month in a row of steady prices, with the UN FAO’s Food Price Index averaging 120.8 points in July, marginally below its revised 121.0 figure for June.
The figure was 3.1 per cent lower than the corresponding values last July.
The Food Price Index tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a set of globally traded food commodities.
The FAO Cereal Price Index dropped by 3.8 per cent from June as global export prices for major cereals fell for the second month in a row.
Wheat prices decreased due to increased availability from winter harvests and favourable conditions in Canada and the United States.
Maize prices also fell with progressing harvests in Argentina and Brazil and strong crop conditions in the US.
Conversely, the Vegetable Oil Price Index rose 2.4 per cent, driven by high demand for soy oil in the biofuel sector and poor crop prospects for sunflower and rapeseed oils.
Similarly, the Meat Price Index increased by 1.2 per cent due to strong import demand for various meats, despite a slight decline in pig meat prices.
The Sugar Price Index also saw an increase of 0.7 per cent, influenced by lower-than-expected production in Brazil.
