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Food Price Index Remained Stable in June, FAO Says

05 July 2019 07:31 (UTC +04:00)

Rome, Jul 4 (Prensa Latina) In June, FAO''s food price index dropped 0.3 percent compared to May, very close to its level in June 2018, APA reports citing the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

The agency noted in its report on the sixth month of the year that the lower prices of dairy products and vegetal oil compensated for the rise in cereals, sugar and meat prices, after five months of uninterrupted increase in general.

Cereal prices rose 6.7 percent (nearly 11 points) compared to the previous month, and 3.8 percent more than in June 2018.

The price increase resulted from the rise in prices of corn exports for the third month in a row, in addition to the recovery of wheat prices after dropping for two consecutive months, while rice continued its stable trend.

However, dairy prices decreased 11.9 percent, their first fall in five months, due to a weak demand for cheese and butter, as a result of an increase in exports and a weak demand for imports.

According to FAO, sugar prices rose 4.2 percent, basically due to the appreciation of the Brazilian real against the US dollar, while vegetable oil prices decreased in June due to a slow demand for palm and soy oils and a greater prospect for production, while the prices of sunflower and rapeseed oils increased.

Meat prices kept their moderate increase so far this year, due to a high demand for imports, especially from East Asia, where the epidemics of African swine fever has limited national production.