World food prices continue falling in June

By Tuba Ongun

ANKARA (AA) – Global food prices continued falling in June led by a decrease in prices of sugar, vegetable oils, cereals, and dairy products, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported on Friday.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 122.3 points in June, decreasing 1.4% from the previous month.

The FAO food price index is a trade-weighted index that tracks international market prices of five major food commodity groups.

The cereal price index dropped 2.1% from May with quotations decreasing 3.4% for coarse grain, 1.3% for wheat, and 1.2% for rice.

The vegetable oil price index dipped 2.4% month-on-month, as lower world prices of palm and sunflower oils, more than offset higher soy and rapeseed oil quotations in June.

The dairy price index went down by 0.8% from a month earlier in June, driven by lower cheese prices.

The sugar price index plunged 3.2%, the first decline in five months, mainly triggered by good sugarcane harvest in Brazil and sluggish global import demand, particularly from China.

On the other hand, the index for meat was virtually unchanged in June, as increases in poultry and pig meat prices were nearly offset by decreases in prices of bovine and ovine meats.