China News Service, Beijing, April 5 (Reporter Liu Liang) The latest data released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on the 5th showed that the international food price index rose by 1.1% month-on-month in March due to rising international quotations for vegetable oil, dairy products and meat.
Data show that in March, the FAO food price index averaged 118.3 points, a decrease of 7.7% compared with the same period last year.
Specifically, the vegetable oil price index led the rise in March, with a month-on-month increase of 8.0%, hitting a one-year high. The quotations of palm oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil all rose. Among them, the reason for the rise in international palm oil prices is the seasonal decline in production in major producing countries, while domestic demand in Southeast Asia is strong. World soybean oil prices have rebounded from multi-year lows, supported by strong demand from the biofuel sector, particularly in the United States and Brazil.
The dairy product price index rose 2.9% month-on-month in March, rising for six consecutive months, mainly driven by increases in cheese and butter prices.
The meat price index rose by 1.7% month-on-month in March, and the international prices of poultry, pork and beef increased. In contrast, the cereal price index fell by 2.6% month-on-month in March, a drop of 20% compared with the same period in 2023. In addition, the rice price index fell by 1.7% month-on-month in March, mainly reflecting sluggish global import demand.
The sugar price index fell 5.4% month-on-month in March, mainly because India raised its sugar production forecast for 2023/2024 and Thailand accelerated the harvest of sugar crops.
FAO also released the latest "Cereal Supply and Demand Brief" that day, raising the world cereal production in 2023/2024 to 2.841 billion tons, reflecting adjustments to the expected production of corn, rice and wheat. (over)