Farming News - Food prices remain level: Price drop has bottomed out
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Food prices remain level: Price drop has bottomed out
Food prices have remained stable for a third consecutive month, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.
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On publishing its monthly food price index, FAO said vegetable oil and grain prices had inched up in November, but that these had been offset by the continued decline of dairy prices.
The FPI currently stands 6.4 percent below its November 2013 level. However, the stagnancy may herald future price rises, according to FAO economists. Senior economist Abdolreza Abbassian said on Thursday, "The index appears to have bottomed out with higher probabilities for a rise in its value in coming months."
After some volatile movements in recent years, the UN organisation's Food Price Index is hovering around its August 2010 levels. The index monitors the prices of a range of widely traded staple foods, and breaks up the results by five different categories: cereals, meat, dairy products, vegetable oils, and sugar.
Dairy prices declined 3.4 percent between October and November, meaning prices are currently 29 percent lower than they were this time last year. Sugar prices also dropped by 3.2 percent, as rain in Brazil's sugar producing regions alleviated drought concerns in the world's largest sugar exporting economy.
Less than ideal growing conditions for winter wheat around the Northern hemisphere led cereal prices to rise slightly. Although prices rose 2.6 percent from October, they remain 5.8 percent lower than in November 2013.
Vegetable Oils have seen similar movement over the last month; prices rose 0.7 percent between October and November, but are still almost 17 percent below 2013 levels. Meat prices remained stable in November, although beef and most other types of meats are at historic highs. Meat prices are 13.3 percent higher than they were last year.