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After declining in June and July, the FAO Food Price Index rose quickly again in August and reached 32.9 percent higher than August 2020 levels. The increase was driven by rising cereal and vegetable oil prices, as well as by rises in sugar prices.

Ten years after the launch of AMIS and the Food Security Portal’s Excessive Price Variability Early Warning System, managing and reducing food price volatility remains a clear priority for global food security.

As reported earlier this month, global wheat prices declined slightly in June after 12 straight months of increases. The recent decline was based on favorable production prospects in several major producing regions, including Europe, India, and the Black Sea region. Wheat futures prices followed suit, dropping by 6 percent in June.

The FAO Food Price Index continued to surge in May, rising 4.8 percent from the previous month. Prices are now 38.9 percent higher than May 2020 and the highest seen since September 2011. This twelfth consecutive month of increases also brings the Index just 7.6 percent below the record highs of February 2011.

The FAO Food Price Index continued to rise in March for the tenth consecutive month. The Index increased 2.1 percent from February, bringing it to its highest value seen since June 2014. The rise was led by increased prices for vegetable oils, meat, and dairy. Cereal prices declined in March.

Futures prices for most staple food commodities have fallen since February because of market supply chain disruptions associated with the spread of the COVID-19 virus and lower oil prices, among other factors. However, overall, price variability in the major agricultural commodity markets has remained relatively calm in the face of COVID-19-related shutdowns. Until recently, the exceptions to this relative calm have included hard wheat and coffee. Hard wheat saw moderate and high levels of price variability from April 9 to June 15. This appeared to be related to tightening of wheat markets with lower stock-to-utility ratios, measures taken by two major wheat-producing countries (Kazakhstan and Russia) to limit exports, and reports of prospects of less favorable growing conditions in parts of Ukraine and other parts of Europe. Price variability in coffee was driven by low stock levels and supply disruptions, but these conditions calmed in the second half of May.