Hard Wheat

It's become clearer and clearer in recent years that spikes in food prices can have significant impact on incomes, markets, and nutrition worldwide. Extreme fluctuations in the price of food can pose challenges for both consumers and producers, and also often lead to political and market overreaction such as export restrictions. While such policies are designed to protect domestic populations, they can further exacerbate price spikes on the international market and have devastating consequences for global food security.

The March issue of the FAO Monthly News Report was released today. The report covers ongoing global and regional trends in grain prices and policies. This month's report includes articles on shipments of Argentine corn to the United States, India's wheat production policies, and dry weather impacting South African maize crops.

The FAO Monthly News Report on Grains series provides a collection of news articles from international media and news sources on issues relating to the international grain economy. These reports also include statistics and upcoming events.

The latest FAO Food Price Index , released last week, was unchanged from January levels, remaining steady at 210 points. This is five points lower than the levels seen in February 2012. The Cereals Price Index and Oils/Fats Price Index remained generally steady as well, experiencing a 1 percent drop and 0.4 percent rise, respectively. The slight decline seen for cereals is due mainly to improved wheat and maize prospects in the US.

The latest GIEWS Global Food Price Monitor, released on Monday, cites slight declines in export prices for international wheat and maize in January. The benchmark US wheat price dropped 3 percent from December, largely on lower US exports and large supplies of wheat feed on the international market. Wheat's decline was somewhat limited, however, by continued drought conditions in the US and a weakening dollar. According to the report, domestic wheat prices in both importing and exporting countries remains high.

After a volatile few months following the US drought, global food prices stabilized in January, according to the FAO's latest edition of the Food Price Index. The Index averaged 210 points in January, unchanged from a revised December average.