Miller Magazine Issue: 124 April 2020

46 NEWS MILLER / APRIL 2020 Weakening demand and falling oil prices due to the global pandemic drive down interna- tional prices for major food commodities. World food prices drop in March World food prices declined sharply in March, driven mostly by demand-side contractions linked to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the drop in global oil prices due mostly to expectations of economic slowdown as go- vernments roll out restrictions designed to respond to the health crisis. The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly chan- ges in the international prices of commonly traded food commodities, averaged 172.2 points during the month, down 4.3 percent from February. "The price drops are lar- gely driven by demand factors, not supply, and the demand factors are influenced by ever-more deteriorating economic prospects," said FAO Senior Economist Abdolreza Abbassi- an. The FAO Sugar Price Index posted the biggest drop, down 19.1 percent from the previous month. The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index declined 12.0 percent in one month, mainly stemming from falling palm oil prices linked to the plunge in crude mineral oil prices and rising uncertainties over the pandemic's impact on vegetable oil markets worldwide. Soy and rapeseed oil prices followed the trend. The FAO Cereal Price Index in March declined 1.9 percent from February and stood at nearly its level of March 2019. International wheat prices declined, as the effects of large global supplies and broadly favorable crop prospects outweighed those of increased import demand from North Africa and some small export limitations impo- sed by the Russian Federation. Maize prices also declined due to both large supplies and much weaker demand from the biofuel sector. International rice prices, by contrast, rose for the third consecutive month, with Indica quotations buoyed by sto- ckpiling spurred by concerns over the pandemic and re- ports that Vietnam might introduce export bans - which the government has since downplayed. COMFORTABLE CEREAL SUPPLIES FAO's forecast for 2020 world wheat production remains unchanged from the previous month, at the near record level of last year, which, coupled with ample inventories, will help shield food markets from turmoil during the coro- navirus storm. In this month's Cereal Supply and Demand Brief, FAO's hiked its estimate for worldwide cereal out- put in 2019 to 2.721 million tonnes, a 2.4 percent increase from 2018 . By type, FAO's 2019 estimates now stand at 1.445 million tonnes for coarse grains, 763 million tonnes for wheat and 512 million tonnes for rice (milled basis). While localized disruptions, mostly due to logistical issu- es, pose challenges to food supply chains in some markets, their anticipated duration and magnitude are unlikely to have a significant effect on global food markets, FAO said. FAO's 2020 forecast for world wheat production is unc- hanged from last month at 763 million tonnes, with expe- ctations of lower outputs in the European Union, Ukraine and the United States of America compensated by anti- cipated production gains in the Russian Federation, India and Pakistan - although locust infestations in the latter two countries could temper the foreseen increase. For maize, the leading coarse grain, bumper harvests are expected in Brazil and Argentina, and South Africa's maize output is fo- recast to recover strongly after last year's drought. FAO's forecast for world cereal utilizations for 2019/20 has been raised slightly to 2.722 million tonnes, a 1.2 per- cent annual increase. World cereal stocks at the close of the 2020 seasons are expected to contract by 8 million tonnes from their opening levels, pushing the global cereals sto- ck-to-use ratio down to 30.7 percent, which is still consi- dered a comfortable level. World trade in cereals is forecast to increase by 2.3 percent from the previous year to reach 420 million tonnes.