FAO Food Price Index
The FAO Food Price Index is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities. It consists of the average of five commodity group price indices (representing 55 quotations), weighted with the average export shares of each of the groups for 2002-2004.
Monthly release dates for 2013: 10 January, 07 February, 07 March, 11 April, 09 May, 06 June, 04 July, 08 August, 05 September, 03 October, 07 November, 05 December.
The FAO Food Price Index nearly unchanged in May at 215 points
Release date: 06/06/2013
| » The FAO Food Price Index averaged 215.2 points in May 2013, very close to its April value of 215.8 points but 10 points (5 percent) higher than in May last year. At that level, the index is nearly 10 percent below the peak reached in February 2011. The small decline in May was the result of falling dairy and sugar prices, which more than offset an increase in cereals. Oils and meat prices remained unchanged. » The FAO Cereal Price Index averaged 238.9 points in May, up 4 points (1.9 percent) from April and nearly 17 points (7.8 percent) above May last year. Last month’s increase was mostly associated with a strong rebound in maize prices, mostly a reaction to tightening export supplies and planting delays in the United States. By contrast, wheat and rice quotations were largely unchanged from the previous month. » The FAO Oils/Fats Price Index averaged 199.0 points in May, unchanged from April. While palm oil prices gained strength following a drop in global inventories from their recent record-high levels, soy oil values eased further reflecting higher than anticipated export availabilities in Argentina and the encouraging outlook for the United States' 2013/14 soybean crop. » The FAO Dairy Price Index averaged 249.8 points in May, a fall of 9 points (3.5 percent) from the exceptionally high level recorded in April. Amongst the products that make up the index, skimmed milk powder experienced the sharpest fall (-12.2 percent), followed by butter (-6.8 percent) and whole milk powder (-6.2 percent), while the average price of cheddar cheese rose slightly. Supplies of milk products for trade are still constrained by weather related factors affecting milk production in most of the major exporting countries. » The FAO Meat Price Index averaged 179.3 points in May – about the same as in April. The index has remained within the narrow band of 177 – 179 points since October 2012. For the different categories of meat which compose the index, poultry prices continued to edge higher, reaching an all-time high. Prices were also up for ovine meat, but largely unchanged for the other meat categories. |
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