The world Food Price Index, on a downward path since last April, fell by 1.9 percent in January, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. “Lower prices reflect strong production expectations,” said FAO. “[E]arly indications for crops in 2015 are favorable.” In addition, FAO raised its estimate of world cereal production to a record high, up marginally from a month ago.
With the record harvest of 2.534 billion tonnes of cereal grains, the global stockpile is forecast for 623 million tonnes when this year’s crops are ready for harvest. The stocks-to-use ratio would rise to a comfortable 25 percent, “its highest level in more than a decade and well above the historic low of 18.4 percent recorded in 2007/08, a time of volatile international food commodity prices,” said FAO.