Heba Press – Agencies
Data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) showed that global food prices rose in October to their highest level in 18 months.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks prices of the world’s most traded food products, rose 2 percent to 127.4 points last month, from a revised 124.9 points in September.
The data shows that the index thus increased by 5.5 percent compared to last year and reached its highest level since April 2023, although it is 20.5 percent below the record level recorded in March 2022 after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The FAO said prices of all categories increased except meat, with prices of vegetable oils jumping more than seven percent from the previous month, supported by concerns over production of palm oil.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said continued concerns about Brazil’s production outlook in 2024 and 2025 supported a more moderate increase in sugar prices in October, when they rose by 2.6 percent.
In a separate report on cereals, the FAO lowered its global production forecast for 2024 to 2.848 billion tonnes, from 2.853 billion tonnes expected a month ago.
The revision suggests that production would fall by 0.4 percent from the previous year, but would remain at its second highest level on record.
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