World food prices fell slightly in May for the second consecutive month, with the exception of those of wheat that continue to rise, it announced today the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Following a record high in March due to the war in Ukraine, the FAO food index, which monitors the monthly fluctuation of international prices for a basket of basic foodstuffs, fell by 0.6%, mainly due to a fall in vegetable oil prices. .
After 100 days of a conflict that has destabilized markets and supply chains around the world, this FAO index has reached 157.4 points, recording an increase of 22.8% in a year from May 2021, the organization reports. .
Wheat, a strategically important food, rose 5.6% in May: This is an increase linked to “the announcement of an embargo on exports from India, concerns about crop conditions in major exporting countries” and a reduction in forecasts for cereal production in Ukraine.
Over a period of one year, the price of wheat, 30% Russia and Ukraine accounted for 56.2% of world trade.
The FAO index of vegetable oils fell by 3.5% at the same time, thanks to a drop in the prices of palm oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil and rapeseed oil, “partly due to the lifting of the temporary ban on palm oil exports from Indonesia”.
“Export restrictions create market uncertainty and can lead to rising prices and increased volatility,” he said. FAO chief economist Massimo Torrero Cougen.
The agency also predicts a “possible decline” in global cereal production by 2022 – the first in four years – which is expected to fall to 2.7 billion tonnes, 16 million below record production estimated for 2021.
