Morning Ag Clips logo
  • Subscribe ❯
  • PORTAL ❯
  • LOGIN ❯
  • By Keyword
  • By topic
  • By state
  • Home
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Store
  • Advertise
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Subscribe to our
    daily email
    ❯
  • Portal Registration❯
  • Login❯
  • policy
  • tractors & machinery
  • education
  • conservation
  • webinars
  • business
  • dairy
  • cattle
  • poultry
  • swine
  • corn
  • soybeans
  • organic
  • specialty crops
  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming

Morning Ag Clips

  • By Keyword
  • By topic
  • By state
  • policy
  • tractors & machinery
  • education
  • conservation
  • webinars
  • business
  • dairy
  • cattle
  • poultry
  • swine
  • corn
  • soybeans
  • organic
  • specialty crops
  • Home
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Store
  • Advertise
Home » Global food prices rise for 10th month in a row
economy international
INTERNATINAL ISSUES ...

Global food prices rise for 10th month in a row

Vegetable oils drive FAO Food Price Index higher in March while cereal quotations dip

PUBLISHED ON April 12, 2021

Packing butter in the Russian Federation. (FAO)

ROME — Global food commodity prices rose in March, marking their tenth consecutive monthly increase, with quotations for vegetable oils and dairy products leading the rise, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported today.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly-traded food commodities, averaged 118.5 points in March, 2.1 percent higher than in February and reaching its highest level since June 2014.

Trends varied by commodity types. The March increase was led by the FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index, which rose 8.0 percent from the previous month to hit a nearly 10-year high, with soy oil prices rising sharply due in part to the prospects of firm demand from the biodiesel sector.

The FAO Dairy Price Index increased 3.9 percent from February, with butter prices buoyed by somewhat tight supplies in Europe associated with increased demand in anticipation of a food-service sector recovery. Milk powder prices also rose, supported by a surge in imports in Asia, particularly China, due to declining production in Oceania and scarce shipping container availability in Europe and North America.

The FAO Meat Price Index also rose, by 2.3 percent from February, with imports by China and a surge in internal sales in Europe ahead of the Easter holiday celebration underpinning increasing poultry and pig meat quotations. Bovine meat prices remained steady, while ovine meat prices declined as dry weather in New Zealand led to farmers offloading animals.

By contrast, the FAO Cereal Price Index dropped by 1.8 percent, but it is still 26.5 percent higher than in March 2020. Wheat export prices declined the most, reflecting generally good supplies and favourable production prospects for 2021 crops. Maize and rice prices also declined, while those for sorghum rose.

The FAO Sugar Price Index declined 4.0 percent in the month, triggered by prospects of large exports from India, but it remained more than 30 percent above its year-earlier level.

Positive cereal crop prospects in 2021

FAO expects world cereal production in 2021 to increase for the third consecutive year and has raised its preliminary global wheat production forecast on better than-earlier-anticipated crop conditions in several countries. Global wheat production is forecast to reach a new high of 785 million tonnes in 2021, up 1.4 percent from 2020, driven by a likely sharp rebound across most of Europe and expectations of a record harvest in India.

Above-average outputs are also expected for maize, with a record harvest anticipated in Brazil and a multi-year high in South Africa, according to FAO’s Cereal Supply and Demand Brief, also released today.

For the current 2020/21 marketing season, global cereal utilization is now forecast at 2 777 million tonnes, 2.4 percent higher than the previous year, driven largely by higher estimates of feed use of wheat and barley in China, where the livestock sector is recovering from African swine fever.

World cereal stocks at the end of 2021 are forecast to decline by 1.7 percent from their opening levels to 808 million tonnes. Combined with the utilization forecasts, the global cereal stock-to-use ratio for 2020/21 is foreseen to dip to a seven-year low of 28.4 percent.

FAO also raised its forecast for world trade in cereals during 2020/21 to 466 million tonnes, a 5.8 percent increase from the previous year, driven by even faster trade in coarse grains linked to unprecedented levels of maize purchases by China. Also for rice, international trade is forecast to expand by 6 percent year-on-year.

The Brief offers more details and updated assessments.

–FAO

For more articles concerning international issues, click here.

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

Colorado crop production
August 15, 2022

LAKEWOOD, Colo. — Based on August 1 conditions, corn production in Colorado is forecast at 142.78 million bushels, according to the August 1 Agricultural Yield Survey conducted by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA. This forecast is down 4 percent from last year’s 148.35 million bushels. The 1.21 million […]

FAO Food Price Index dips in May
June 08, 2022

ROME — World food commodity prices declined modestly in May for the second consecutive month, although wheat and poultry prices pushed higher, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has reported. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 157.4 points in May 2022, down 0.6 percent from April. The Index, which tracks monthly changes in the […]

FAO Food Price Index rises to record high in February
March 07, 2022

ROME — The benchmark gauge for world food prices went up in February, reaching an all-time high, led by vegetable oils and dairy products, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported today. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 140.7 points in February, up 3.9 percent from January, 24.1 percent above its level a […]

Global food prices fall for the first time in 12 months
July 12, 2021

ROME — Global food commodity prices fell in June for the first time in 12 months, according to a benchmark United Nations report released Thursday. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 124.6 points in June 2021, down 2.5 percent from May, but still 33.9 percent higher than its level in the same period last year. The decline […]

Spread the word

Browse More Clips

FDA launches Closer to Zero, a plan to improve baby food

U.S. economy gathers momentum

Primary Sidebar

MORE

NATIONAL CLIPS

FDA revamping foods program to move past 'constant turmoil'
January 31, 2023
2022 Census of Agriculture due next week Feb. 6
January 31, 2023
Administration invests $2.7 billion to improve rural electric infrastructure
January 31, 2023
Artificial intelligence for soil health
January 31, 2023
Rural Americans aren’t included in inflation figures – and for them, the cost of living may be rising faster
January 31, 2023
  • Trending
  • Latest

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE...

Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative
Dairy group applauds additional ​​​​​​​action in Canada dispute
February 1, 2023
2022 Census of Agriculture due next week Feb. 6
January 31, 2023
Artificial intelligence for soil health
January 31, 2023
Rural Americans aren’t included in inflation figures – and for them, the cost of living may be rising faster
January 31, 2023
Michigan farmers encouraged to complete Census
January 30, 2023

Footer

MORNING AG CLIPS

  • Contact Us
  • Sponsors
  • About Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service

CONNECT WITH US

  • Like Us on Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

TRACK YOUR TRADE

  • Markets & Economy
  • Cattle Updates
  • Dairy News
  • Policy & Politics
  • Corn Alerts

QUICK LINKS

  • Account
  • Portal Membership
  • Just Me, Kate
  • Farmhouse Communication

Get the MAC App Today!

Get it on Google Play
Download on the App Store

© 2023 Morning Ag Clips, LLC. All Rights Reserved.