The benchmark index of staple food prices It went up in April for the first time in a year.due to increases in world prices for sugar, meat and ricez, reported this Friday the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The FAO indicator, which monitors the monthly variations in international prices of the most widely traded basic food products, reached an average of 127.2 points in april, a 0.6% more than in March.
The index stood a 19.7% below its level in April 2022, but still a 5.2% higher than in April 2021, the agency explained in a statement.
Sugar prices increased by 17.6% compared to March, reaching its highest level since October 2011, due to “the reduction in production expectations and results in the India, China, Thailand and the European Union caused by dry weather conditions.
It also influenced slow start to sugarcane harvest in Brazilwith him rising international crude oil priceswhich may increase the demand for sugarcane-based ethanol.”
Meat prices also rose, a 1.3%driven by the increase in pork prices, followed by poultry prices, “which increased amid Asian import demand and production restrictions spurred by animal health problems.”
And “international beef prices also increased due to the decreased supply of cattle for slaughter, especially in the US.”
Meanwhile, prices of other large categories of food products, with the exception of rice, continued their downward trend, with special emphasis on those of cereals, which fell by 1.7% compared to March and were situated on average a 19.8% below its April 2022 value.
Wheat prices fell a 23%“mainly due to the large exportable availabilities in Australia and the Russian Federation” and those of corn a 3.2% by “seasonally increasing the supply in South America with the current harvests.”
On the other hand, “in a context of reduced harvests due to the increase in the costs of inputs and adverse weather conditions, especially outside Asia, sales to Asian buyers supported an increase in international rice prices”.
“It is important that we continue to monitor very closely the evolution of prices and the reasons for their increases. As economies recover from major slowdowns, demand will increase, putting upward pressure on food prices,” said Máximo Torero, FAO chief economist.
“At the same time, rising rice prices are extremely worrying and it is essential that the Black Sea initiative be renewed to avoid other spikes in wheat and corn,” he added.
(With information from EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com