Global food prices fell for the fourth consecutive month in February, reflecting declines in vegetable, meat and cereal prices, the FAO said today.
The Food and Agriculture Organization's food price index, which measures monthly changes for a representative basket filled with cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat, and sugar, averaged 180.5 points last month, down 1.0% from a decrease corresponds to the previous month of January.
The FAO has raised its forecast for grain production slightly and is forecasting a harvest of around 2.719 billion tons in 2019, compared to an earlier forecast of 2.715 billion tons. This is an increase of around 2.3% for the 2018 harvest.
The Food and Agriculture Organization's food price index, which measures monthly changes for a representative basket filled with cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat, and sugar, averaged 180.5 points last month, down 1.0% from a decrease corresponds to the previous month of January.
The FAO has raised its forecast for grain production slightly and is forecasting a harvest of around 2.719 billion tons in 2019, compared to an earlier forecast of 2.715 billion tons. This is an increase of around 2.3% for the 2018 harvest.
The vegetable oil price index fell 10.3% in January, mainly due to the slump in palm oil prices, while the grain price index fell 0.9%, with international prices of all major cereal products excluding rice falling.
The FAO said the spread of the corona virus has contributed to the fall in prices in both indices, fearing that the outbreak would trigger a global recession.
The corona virus also hit the meat price index, which was down 2% month-on-month as imports to China, the epicenter of the outbreak, declined. To date, at least 95,300 people have been infected worldwide and the virus has caused more than 3,200 deaths
The milk price index rose by 4.6%, which was due to an increase in cheese triggered by the tightening of export deliveries from New Zealand and Australia.
However, milk powder offers declined due to a slowdown in purchases from China, the world's largest importer, due to delays in cargo handling in ports affected by the spread of the coronavirus, the FAO said.
The FAO said the spread of the corona virus has contributed to the fall in prices in both indices, fearing that the outbreak would trigger a global recession.
The corona virus also hit the meat price index, which was down 2% month-on-month as imports to China, the epicenter of the outbreak, declined. To date, at least 95,300 people have been infected worldwide and the virus has caused more than 3,200 deaths
The milk price index rose by 4.6%, which was due to an increase in cheese triggered by the tightening of export deliveries from New Zealand and Australia.
However, milk powder offers declined due to a slowdown in purchases from China, the world's largest importer, due to delays in cargo handling in ports affected by the spread of the coronavirus, the FAO said.
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