After reaching record highs for two months in a row, the Food Price Index is marginally lower for the second consecutive month, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The latest decline, in May, was led by lower prices for vegetable oils and dairy products.
At a reading of 157.4 points, the index, based on international prices for a basket of food commodities, was 1.4-percent lower than the record of 159.7 in April. Still, it was nearly 23-percent higher than it was a year ago.
Vegetable oil prices fell 3.5 percent during May due in part to Indonesia’s short-lived ban on palm oil exports. “Export restrictions create market uncertainty and can result in price spikes and increased price volatility, the decrease in oilseeds prices shows how important it is when they are removed and let exports flow smoothly,” said FAO chief economist Máximo Torero Cullen.
Meanwhile, grain prices rose 2.2 percent, with wheat prices surging 5.6 percent in response to India’s restrictions on wheat exports and concerns about conditions in major exporting countries, including Ukraine. International rice prices also were up, but feed grain prices fell.
Prices of dairy products were down 3.5 percent and sugar prices, after two months of sharp increases, dipped 1.1 percent. Meat prices were up 0.5 percent, driven by surging demand for poultry in Europe and the Middle East.