Indeed, global food prices remained stable in the month of June 2024, as this was driven by soaring vegetable oil, sugar, and dairy products, which offset a decline in the price index of cereals, while the meat index was almost unchanged.
According to the global food index report for June 2024 just released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation’s.
The UNFAO price index, which measures the changes in the international prices of a basket of globally traded food commodities, averaged 120.6 points in June, up only 0.2 percent from May.
Global food prices, according to the report, in the period under review are 2.1 percent below their value a year ago and 24.8 percent below their peak of 160.3 points in March 2022.
The cereal prices averaged 115.2 points in June, down 3.0 percent from May and 9.0 percent from its June 2023 value. On a month-on-month basis, the prices of all major cereals went down.
At the same time, FAO said wheat prices declined due to seasonal pressure with ongoing harvests in the northern hemisphere.
In addition to that, marginally better production prospects in some large exporting countries, notably Kazakhstan and Ukraine, coupled with the introduction of a temporary import ban by Turkey, further contributed to price decline.
Vegetable oil prices jumped 3.1 percent from 127.8 points in May to 131.8 points in June, the highest level expected since March 2023.
This increase was driven by higher quotations across palm, soy and sunflower oils, while rapeseed oil prices were stable.
Moreover, after easing for two months in a row, international palm oil prices gained ground in June, FAO said, largely buoyed by recovering global import demand thanks to increased price competitiveness.
The dairy price index rose 1.2 percent from 126.3 in May to average 127.8 points in June. It increased 6.6 percent above its value in the corresponding month a year ago.
The rise in diary price was influenced by butter, which hit a 24-month high in the period under review, influenced by low inventories in Oceania, that coincided with the region’s lowest point in milk production.
The price of meat remained stable in June at 116.9 compared to May—though a fall in international poultry prices offset slight increases in the prices of ovine, pig, and bovine meats—up 1.8 percent from its level a year ago.
The global sugar prices averaged 119.4 points in June. This is an increase of 1.9 percent over May, marking the first rise after three consecutive monthly declines.
“June’s rise was triggered mainly by the lower-than-expected harvest results observed in May in Brazil, which increased market concerns that the possible prolonged dry weather could have on sugar production in the coming month,” indicated FAO.
In a separate report, the international agency lifted its global production forecast for cereals in 2024 by 7.9 million metric tons to 2.854 billion tons, up from fractionally from 2023 levels and ending a new all-time high forecast.
The increase was driven by better prospects for coarse grains, which were buoyed by higher expectations for maize harvests in both Argentina and Brazil.
The world cereal utilisation forecast stood at 2.856 billion tons for the 2024/25 period, up 0.5 percent from 2023/24. The forecast of FAO for world cereal stocks by the close of seasons in 2025 remained at 894 million tons.