3 April 2014
World food prices rose
sharply in March to reach their highest levels since May last year, the Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said. The FAO Food Price index was up 4.8
points, or 2.3% from February, at 212.8. The index was influenced, as expected,
by unfavorable weather conditions in US and Brazil and geopolitical tensions in
the Black Sea region.
FAO said prices in
March rose in all groups except dairy with the greatest gains in sugar, up 7.9%
and cereals, up 5.2%. It also reported a higher estimate for world cereal production
in 2013, which has been raised by 6 million tonnes to 2,521 million tonnes.
FAO's first forecast
for global rice production in 2014, points to a modest 0.8% increase, to 500.7
million tonnes of milled rice. Growth is likely to be dampened by falling world
prices and fears of a recurring El Niño event. Although the outlook for rice is
up slightly, increases might not be sufficient to match population growth. As a
result, inventories in the next season could see a decline, albeit from very
high levels.
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