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FAO: Prices of Corn, Wheat, Palm Oil Dip as World Production Grew
FAO: Prices of Corn, Wheat, Palm Oil Dip as World Production Grew
07/07/2014 (Business Mirror) - Global food prices dipped for the third consecutive month mainly due to drops in cereal and vegetable oil prices amid improved supplies, a report by an agency of the United Nations said.
While food security of many countries are being threatened by conflicts and adverse weather condition, a decline in prices of major globally traded food were mostly “influenced by lower wheat, maize and palm oil prices that reflected ample supplies and improved global production prospects for these commodities,” The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Food Price Index said in a statement over the weekend.
According to the latest FAO Crop Prospects and Food Situation report, the outlook for global production of cereals —a staple food in many countries— improved further with upward revisions to coarse grains and wheat supply forecasts for 2014 to 2015.
The FAO’s latest forecast for world cereal—including milled rice—production for this year now stands at 0.2498 billion tons, which is 18 million tons up from the previous figure in June. However, the amount is still 23 million tons, or 1 percent, below last year’s record output, the report said.
“The recent upward revision reflects improved production prospects for coarse grains and wheat crops, particularly in the United States, the European Union and India,” the FAO said.
The UN agency added that despite increased supplies and lower average prices, many people in conflict and drought-stricken areas require external assistance for food.
The UN’s Food Price Index, based on the prices of a basket of internationally traded food commodities, averaged 206.0 points in June 2014. This figure is down 3.8 points, or 1.8 percent, from May and nearly 6 points, or 2.8 percent, below the June level of last year.
The report also said the index had risen to a 10-month high of 213 points in March 2014, but fell in April, May and June, mainly as a result of lower cereal, vegetable oil and dairy prices. Sugar prices also declined in June from May, but remained up from last year. In contrast, meat prices on average increased from May.
Vegetable oils averaged 188.9 points in June, down 6.4 points (3.3 percent) from May, in part reflecting a nine-month low in the price of palm oil, the most widely traded edible oil, details of the report revealed.
Dairy prices averaged 236.5 points in June, down 2.5 points, or 1 percent, over May, a less substantial decline than the previous three months.
Meat prices, however, edged up, averaging 194.2 points in June on the FAO Index and 1.4 points, or 0.7 percent, more than in May, a reflection of constrained world supplies, the report said.
But while improved supply in grains and other food commodities have global prices going down, the price of rice in the Philippines has been unstable for many years now, despite the 96-percent rice self-sufficiency the government claims the country has achieved.
The National Food Authority, the state’s grain agency, decided to import 800 million metric tons (MMT) of rice from Vietnam last year, and is going to import an additional 200 MMT this year in an attempt to control the burgeoning rice price by improving its buffer stock.
While food security of many countries are being threatened by conflicts and adverse weather condition, a decline in prices of major globally traded food were mostly “influenced by lower wheat, maize and palm oil prices that reflected ample supplies and improved global production prospects for these commodities,” The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Food Price Index said in a statement over the weekend.
According to the latest FAO Crop Prospects and Food Situation report, the outlook for global production of cereals —a staple food in many countries— improved further with upward revisions to coarse grains and wheat supply forecasts for 2014 to 2015.
The FAO’s latest forecast for world cereal—including milled rice—production for this year now stands at 0.2498 billion tons, which is 18 million tons up from the previous figure in June. However, the amount is still 23 million tons, or 1 percent, below last year’s record output, the report said.
“The recent upward revision reflects improved production prospects for coarse grains and wheat crops, particularly in the United States, the European Union and India,” the FAO said.
The UN agency added that despite increased supplies and lower average prices, many people in conflict and drought-stricken areas require external assistance for food.
The UN’s Food Price Index, based on the prices of a basket of internationally traded food commodities, averaged 206.0 points in June 2014. This figure is down 3.8 points, or 1.8 percent, from May and nearly 6 points, or 2.8 percent, below the June level of last year.
The report also said the index had risen to a 10-month high of 213 points in March 2014, but fell in April, May and June, mainly as a result of lower cereal, vegetable oil and dairy prices. Sugar prices also declined in June from May, but remained up from last year. In contrast, meat prices on average increased from May.
Vegetable oils averaged 188.9 points in June, down 6.4 points (3.3 percent) from May, in part reflecting a nine-month low in the price of palm oil, the most widely traded edible oil, details of the report revealed.
Dairy prices averaged 236.5 points in June, down 2.5 points, or 1 percent, over May, a less substantial decline than the previous three months.
Meat prices, however, edged up, averaging 194.2 points in June on the FAO Index and 1.4 points, or 0.7 percent, more than in May, a reflection of constrained world supplies, the report said.
But while improved supply in grains and other food commodities have global prices going down, the price of rice in the Philippines has been unstable for many years now, despite the 96-percent rice self-sufficiency the government claims the country has achieved.
The National Food Authority, the state’s grain agency, decided to import 800 million metric tons (MMT) of rice from Vietnam last year, and is going to import an additional 200 MMT this year in an attempt to control the burgeoning rice price by improving its buffer stock.