FAO: world food prices continued to fall in January

World food prices fell in January for the tenth consecutive month, reported today the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which also published its forecasts for the supply of cereals, which will remain scarce in 2023.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks the monthly evolution of international prices for a basket of products, registered an average of 131.2 points in January, 0.8% less than the previous month and 17.9% below its maximum. reached in March 2022.

The prices of vegetable oils, dairy products and sugar drove the decline in January, while those of cereals and meat remained practically stable, indicated the FAO it’s a statement.

The cereal price indicator remained practically unchanged (barely 0.1% more) compared to December, standing 4.8% above its level a year earlier: international wheat prices fell 2.5%, as production in Australia and the Russian Federation exceeded expectations.

For their part, those of corn rose slightly due to the strong demand for exports from Brazil and the concern about the drought in Argentina, while those of rice registered a rise of 6.2 percent compared to December.

Those of vegetable oils also decreased, 2.39%. Oil palm and soybean prices fell amid moderate global import demand, while sunflower and rapeseed prices fell due to ample export supplies, the company explained. FAO.

Those of dairy products (1.4%), sugar (1.1%) and meat (0.1%) also fell.

In addition, in its latest report on cereal supply and demand, released today, FAO raised its forecast for world cereal production in 2022 to 2.765 million tonnes, 1.7% below the 2021 results.

Early indications point to a likely increase in winter wheat acreage in the northern hemisphere, especially in the United States, by 2023, while the severe repercussions of the war in Ukraine are estimated to reduce plantings. winter wheat by 40%.

In the southern hemisphere, Brazil could see record corn plantings, while Argentina’s could decline due to low soil moisture levels.

The FAO forecasts that world cereal utilization in 2022/23 will decrease by 0.7% compared to the previous year, to reach 2,779 million tons, with a drop in maize, while wheat grows and rice varies little from year to year.

The forecast for global cereal stocks stands at 844 million tonnes at the end of the marketing year, bringing the global stocks/utilization ratio for 2022/23 down to 29.5%.