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The benchmark index of international food commodity prices
has declined 2.1 per cent compared to July, the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Friday.
The prices of rice, however, surged by 9.8 per cent in
August to a 15-year high compared to a month earlier. The increase was
triggered by India's rice export ban from July, complicated by a seasonal lull
in production between rice harvests in the Northern Hemisphere.
Overall prices for grains and cereals, the largest component
in the index, slipped by 0.7 per cent due to strong harvests from major
producers. Corn prices fell for the seventh consecutive month based on bumper
crops in Brazil, while wheat prices were 3.8 per cent lower based on strong
harvests in the United States and Canada.
FAO said four of the five broad sub-indexes saw declines. In
addition to the slight dip in prices for grains and cereals, prices were also
lower for vegetable oils, dairy products, and meat.
Sugar prices, meanwhile, rose by 1.3 per cent and were more
than 34 per cent above their levels from a year earlier. FAO said the increase
in sugar prices stemmed from persisting concerns about impacts from the El Nio
weather phenomenon in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Sugar output in India was also
hurt by low rainfall there, while heavy rains made sugar harvests more
difficult in Brazil.
The next FAO food price index is scheduled for publication
on Oct. 6, 2023.
/KN/
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