World food prices fell in January for the tenth consecutive month, reported today the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which also published its forecasts for the supply of cereals, which will remain scarce in 2023.
The FAO Food Price Index, which follows the monthly evolution of international prices for a basket of productsregistered an average of 131.2 points in January, 0.8 percent less than the previous month and 17.9 percent below its maximum reached in March 2022.
The prices of vegetable oils, dairy products and sugar led the decline in Januarywhile those of cereals and meat remained practically stable, the FAO said in a statement.
The cereal price indicator remained practically unchanged (barely 0.1 percent more) compared to December, standing 4.8 percent above its level a year earlier: international cereal prices wheat fell 2.5 percent as output in Australia and the Russian Federation exceeded expectations.
For their part, those of corn rose slightly due to the strong demand for exports from Brazil and the concern about the drought in Argentina, while those of rice registered a rise of 6.2 percent compared to December.
Those of vegetable oils also decreased, 2.39%. Oil palm and soybean prices fell amid subdued global import demand, while sunflower and rapeseed prices fell due to ample export supplies, the FAO explained.
Those of dairy products (1.4%), sugar (1.1%) and meat (0.1%) also fell.
In addition, in its latest report on cereal supply and demand, released today, FAO raised its forecast for world cereal production in 2022 to 2,765 million tonnes, 1.7 percent below the 2021 results. .
By 2023, the FAO indicated that early indications point to a probable increase in winter wheat acreage in the northern hemisphere, especially in the US, while the severe repercussions of the war in Ukraine are estimated to reduce plantings of winter wheat by 40%.
In the southern hemisphere, Brazil could see record corn plantings, while Argentina’s could decline due to low soil moisture levels.
FAO forecasts world cereal utilization in 2022/23 to decline by 0.7 percent from the previous year to 2,779 million tonnes, with maize declining while wheat and wheat growing. of rice varies little from year to year.
Global cereal stocks are forecast at 844 million tonnes at the end of the marketing year, bringing the global stocks/utilization ratio for 2022/23 down to 29.5 percent.
