China News Service, Beijing, July 8 (Reporter Liu Liang) The benchmark report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on the 8th showed that international food prices fell for the first time in June after rising for twelve months.
The FAO Food Price Index for June 2021 averaged 124.6 points, a decrease of 2.5% month-on-month, but still an increase of 33.9% year-on-year.
After continuously rising for 12 consecutive months, the index fell for the first time in June.
The FAO Food Price Index tracks the trends in international prices of the world’s most traded food commodities.
The decline in the index in June reflects the decline in vegetable oil and grain prices, while the price of dairy products has fallen slightly.
The fall in the prices of the above three types of food commodities not only offset the increase in meat and sugar prices, but also lowered the overall index.
The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index fell 9.8% month-on-month, a four-month low.
The significant month-on-month decline mainly reflects the decline in the prices of palm oil, soybean oil and sunflower oil.
The FAO Cereal Price Index fell 2.6% month-on-month in June, but it still increased by 33.8% year-on-year.
Among them, international corn prices fell by 5% this month, one of the reasons is that the recent corn harvest in Argentina was higher than expected, and the supply increased, which led to the price drop.
International wheat prices fell slightly by 0.8% in June.
At present, production prospects in many key wheat producing regions around the world are improving, offsetting the upward pressure on prices caused by the drought in North America.
The FAO Dairy Price Index averaged 119.9 points in June, a decrease of 1.0% from the previous month.
The international prices of all dairy products in the index have fallen, and the price of butter has fallen the most, mainly due to the rapid decline in global import demand and the slight increase in inventory, especially in Europe.
The FAO Sugar Price Index rose against the trend when overall food prices fell, rising by 0.9% month-on-month, rising for the third consecutive month, setting a new high for many years.
At present, Brazil, the world's largest sugar exporter, is suffering from adverse climatic conditions, causing the world to worry about its sugar crop output and putting upward pressure on sugar prices.
The FAO Meat Price Index rose 2.1% month-on-month in June, rising for the 9th consecutive month, up 15.6% year-on-year, but still 8.0% below the peak set in August 2014.
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