Global Courant 2023-05-05 18:42:20
The United Nations’ food agency said food prices rose for the first time in a year in April data.
However, prices are 20 percent lower compared to March 2022, when a record price increase was set after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) price index last month averaged 127.2 points compared to 126.5 points in March.
This agency said that the increase in prices in April is due to the increase in the prices of sugar, meat and rice, which offset the decline in the prices of cereals, dairy and cooking oil.
“As economies recover from slowing economic growth, demands will increase, increasing pressure on food prices,” said FAO economist Maximo Teroro.
The increase in the price of sugar, which reached 17.6 percent in March, was the largest increase recorded since 2011. The FAO said the increase in the price of this product is related to tight supplies due to the decline in production in India and China.
Meanwhile, according to the index, meat prices increased by 1.3 percent from month to month, while the price of edible oil fell by 1.7 percent. However, the prices of rice have increased significantly.
“The rise in rice prices is quite worrying and it is essential that the Black Sea initiative be renewed to avoid another rise in wheat and barley prices,” said Torero.
He referred to the agreement allowing the export of Ukrainian grain through Black Sea ports, which Russia blocked after the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine are two of the world’s largest producers of cereals.
Meanwhile, in a separate report on cereal supplies, the FAO said it expects world wheat production in 2023 to be 785 million tons, or slightly less than in 2022./REL
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