China News Agency, Beijing, April 8 (Reporter Liu Liang) A report released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization on the 8th shows that since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the international staple food and vegetable oil markets have been severely impacted, resulting in a sharp jump in world food commodity prices in March to historically high levels. highest level.

　　In March, the FAO Food Price Index averaged 159.3 points, up 12.6% month-on-month after climbing to its highest level since its establishment in 1990 in February.

The March index level was 33.6% higher than a year earlier.

　　The FAO pointed out that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine triggered a sharp rise in the prices of wheat and all coarse grain commodities, and the FAO Cereal Price Index rose 17.1% month-on-month in March.

In the past three years, Russia and Ukraine together accounted for about 30% and 20% of global wheat and corn exports, respectively.

World wheat prices surged 19.7% in March, while maize prices rose 19.1% month-on-month to hit record highs along with barley and sorghum prices.

The FAO Rice Price Index was unchanged from February, still down 10 percent from a year earlier.

　　The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index rose by 23.2% month-on-month, the FAO said, due to higher quotations for sunflower oil, which is a major global exporter of sunflower oil in Ukraine.

Rising sunflower and crude oil prices also led to sharp increases in palm, soybean and canola oil prices.

　　FAO also released the latest issue of the Cereal Supply and Demand Brief on the same day, in which global wheat production in 2022 is expected to reach 784 million tons, an increase of 1.1% year-on-year.

　　Global cereal consumption in 2021/2022 is forecast at 2.789 billion tonnes, with rice consumption set to break a record and corn and wheat consumption are also expected to rise.

　　The FAO forecasts that global cereal stocks at the end of 2022 will rise by 2.4 percent from their opening levels, mainly due to higher wheat and maize inventories in Russia and Ukraine following lower export expectations.

The global cereal stocks-to-consumption ratio in 2021/2022 is forecast at 29.7 percent, only slightly lower than the previous season, which FAO believes "still indicates relatively good levels of supply".

　　Based on the current situation in Russia and Ukraine, FAO's forecast for world cereal trade in the current marketing year has been revised down to 469 million tonnes, a contraction from the 2020/2021 level.

Forecasts point to higher wheat exports from the European Union and India, while increased corn shipments from Argentina, India and the United States partially offset losses in the Black Sea region.

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