The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) revealed on Thursday that world food prices rose over the past month, after a long period of stability and declining prices. The rises were driven by concerns about sugar and oil supplies, stemming from harsh weather in the southern hemisphere.

According to the FAO’s Food Price Index, staple food prices last month were up almost 4 percent compared to September, but remained 16 percent lower than they were a year ago.

Rains in Brazil (the world’s number one sugar producer) which are disturbing soybean planting, drought in India and Thailand and concerns that El Nino may impact on palm oil supply. News that might bring some succour to dairy farmers is that dairy prices rose by over 9 percent due to concerns about reduced production in New Zealand.

The Cereal Price Index also rose, albeit by a modest 1.7 percent, due in part to dry weather leading to growing concerns in Southern Russia and Ukraine.

Meanwhile, FAO’s Cereal Supply and Demand Brief lowered its October 2015 forecast for global cereal production and now projects production at 2.53 billion tonnes, 1.1 percent below last year's record output. Poorer expectations for crops in India and the Ukraine led the cut-back. On the other hand, larger EU production led to an increase in wheat production estimates.

This will lead cereal stocks to reach 15 year highs this year, FAO said.