FAO report reveals climbing of global food prices worldwide

(MENAFN) (FAO) revealed that global food prices climbed in July, mainly fueled by higher costs for meat and vegetable oils.

The FAO’s food price index increased by 1.6% compared to the previous month, reaching 130.1 points. Vegetable oil prices surged significantly, with the vegetable oil price index rising 7.1% to hit a three-year peak of 166.8 points.

This spike was largely influenced by higher prices for palm, soybean, and sunflower oils. Palm oil prices rose due to robust global demand and increased market competitiveness, while sunflower oil costs went up as exports from the Black Sea Region dwindled. Meanwhile, rapeseed oil prices dropped because of a shortage of new crops in Europe.

Meat prices also contributed to the overall increase, with the meat price index climbing 1.2% to reach a record high of 127.3 points. Strong import demand from countries like China and the United States pushed up beef and mutton prices.

In contrast, the dairy price index slightly decreased by 0.1% to 155.3 points, marking the first decline since April 2024. The report highlighted that prices for butter and milk powders fell due to ample export supplies and weak import demand, especially from Asia. However, cheese prices continued to rise, supported by strong demand in Asian and Near East markets and reduced export availability in the European Union.

Cereal prices dropped 0.8% to 106.5 points, and sugar prices slipped 0.2% to 103.3 points.

Despite July’s monthly increase, the overall food price index remains 18.8% below its peak in March 2022 but is still 7.6% higher than the same time last year.

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