What's New

The FAO Food Price Index for May was released yesterday and is down 2.5 points from April, and nearly 7 points from May 2013. This is the second decline in a row, following the ten-month high reached in March. The decline is driven mostly by lower dairy, cereals, and vegetable oils prices.

Global food prices dropped slowly in April, led by sharp declines in dairy products, sugar, and vegetable oils, according to the latest FAO Food Price Index. The Index fell 1.6 percent from March.

By contrast, the Cereal Price Index rose in April by one point. However, cereal prices remain well below (10.3 percent below) their April 2013 levels. The Meat Price Index also rose in April, with pig meat prices rising and bovine meat prices near historic highs.

Food prices spiked in March, according to the latest FAO Food Price Index, released this week. The Index rose 4.8 points from February and is at its highest level since May 2013. The increase is due largely to poor weather and continuing unrest in the Black Sea region. Cereal and sugar prices gained the most this month.

In the sharpest rise seen since mid-2012, the FAO Food Price Index increased by 5.2 points, or 2.6 percent, in February. The rebound was driven by rising prices across all sectors of the Index, with the exception of meat. Despite this rise, however, the February Index remained 2.1 percent lower than one year ago.

The latest FAO Food Price Index was released on January 9, citing a slight drop from December. At 203.4 points, the Index was 4.4 percent lower than its January 2013 level.

The Cereal Price Index also dropped by 3 points in January, down a full 56 points from its January 2013 level. This decline can be attributed largely to bumper cereal crops and subsequent large export supplies, which helped reduce prices from the highs seen in 2012 and 2013.