World food prices edged marginally higher in April from March, with the prices of most cereals and dairy products continuing to rise while sugar fell further, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) said Thursday, according to a Reuters report monitored by businessamlive.
Specifically, the United Nations agency said food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 173.5 points in April as against the 172.8 points recorded in March.
From a year earlier, food prices on international markets rose 2.7 percent in April, the FAO said.
It predicted the wheat output of 746.6 million tonnes for 2018, down 11.3 million tonnes from the near-record 2017 level, adding that early prospects for global cereal markets in 2018/19 were favourable.
“According to FAO’s first forecasts for the 2018/19 marketing season, cereal supplies should be sufficient to meet consumption requirements. While global cereal reserves are forecast to decline, the decrease is likely to mostly concern maize,” it said.
