World food commodity prices declined modestly in May for the second consecutive month, even as wheat and poultry prices pushed higher, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported said over the weekend.
In a statement, the FAO said Food Price Index averaged 157.4 points in May 2022, down 0.6 per cent from April.
The Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of commonly traded food commodities, however, remained 22.8 percent higher than in May 2021.
The report noted that, “The FAO Cereal Price Index increased by 2.2 percent from the previous month, led by wheat prices, which were up 5.6 percent from April and 56.2 percent from their corresponding value a year earlier. International wheat prices, averaging only 11 percent below the record high reached in March 2008, rose in response to an export ban announced by India and concerns over crop conditions in several leading exporting countries as well as reduced production prospects in Ukraine due to the war. International rice prices also rose across the board, while coarse grain prices declined by 2.1 percent, with maize prices dropping by even more in step with slightly improved crop conditions in the United States of America, seasonal supplies in Argentina and the imminent start of Brazil’s main maize harvest.
“The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index declined by 3.5 percent from April, while still markedly higher than its year-earlier level. Prices dropped for palm, sunflower, soy and rapeseed oils, due in part to the removal of Indonesia’s short-lived export ban on palm oil and sluggish global import demand for soy and rapeseed oils in view of elevated costs in recent months.”
Commenting on the latest price index, FAO Chief Economist Máximo Torero Cullen, said, “Export restrictions create market uncertainty and can result in price spikes and increased price volatility, the decrease in oilseeds prices shows how important it is when they are removed and let exports flow smoothly.”
Source: Oluchi Chibuzor (This Day News)
