Miller Magazine Issue: 154 October 2022

58 MILLER / OCTOBER 2022 NEWS World food prices have fallen for a fifth consecutive month but are still nearly eight per cent higher than a year ago, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported. FAO said the decline in cereal prices reflected improved production prospects in North America and Rus- sia, and the resumption of exports from Black Sea ports in Ukraine. FAO Food Price Index dips by 1.9 percent while new FAO forecasts point to lower global cereals output in 2022. The ba- rometer for world food commodity prices declined for the fifth consecutive month in August, as quotations for most bench- mark items dropped, according to a new report released on 2nd September by FAO. The closely watched FAO Food Price Index averaged 138.0 points in August, down 1.9 percent from July although remai- ning 7.9 percent above its value a year before. The Index tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of commonly traded food commodities. The FAO Cereal Price Index decreased by 1.4 percent from the previous month, a drop driven by a 5.1 percent decline in international wheat prices that reflected improved production prospects in North America and the Russian Federation as well as the resumption of exports from the Black Sea ports in Uk- raine. Rice prices on average held steady during the month, while quotations for coarse grains increased marginally, by 0.2 percent, as firmer world maize prices due to hot, dry growing conditions in the European Union and the United States of America were offset by lower barley and sorghum prices. Vegetable oil prices decreased by 3.3 per cent, which is slight- ly below the August 2021 level. FAO attributed this to increased availability of palm oil from Indonesia, due to lower export taxes, and the resumption of sunflower oil shipments from Ukraine. The FAO Dairy Price Index decreased by 2.0 percent in Au- gust, while remaining 23.5 percent above its August 2021 va- lue. World cheese prices increased for the tenth consecutive month, while those of milk eased amid expectations of increa- sed supplies from New Zealand, even as production tracks lower in Western Europe and the United States of America. The price of meat declined by 1.5 per cent but remained just over eight per cent higher than the value last August. Interna- tional quotations for poultry fell amid elevated export availabi- lities, and bovine meat prices declined due to weak domestic demand in some top exporting countries, while pig meat quo- tations rose. Sugar prices also hit their lowest level since July 2021, lar- gely due to high export caps in India and lower ethanol prices in Brazil. FAO’S LATEST CEREAL PRODUCTION FORECAST FOR 2022 FAO has also issued its global cereal production forecast for this year, which projects a decline of nearly 40 million tonnes, or 1.4 per cent from the previous year. The bulk of this decli- ne mainly concerns coarse grains, with maize yields in Europe expected to drop 16 per cent below their five-year average level due to the exceptional hot and dry weather conditions affecting the continent. By contrast, FAO expects there will be a “negligible drop” in worldwide wheat production resulting from expected record harvests in Russia and conducive weather conditions in North America. Global rice production is also expected to decline by 2.1 percent from the all-time high reached in 2021 . World food prices dip for fifth consecutive month