Food rates hit file large in March, U.N. company states

PARIS, April 8 (Reuters) – World food items costs jumped almost 13% in March to a new document superior as the war in Ukraine triggered turmoil in marketplaces for staple grains and edible oils, the U.N. meals agency said on Friday.

The Food stuff and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food cost index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 159.3 points previous thirty day period vs . an upwardly revised 141.4 for February.

The February determine was formerly place at 140.7, which was a file at the time. examine more

Russia and Ukraine are main exporters of wheat, corn, barley and sunflower oil via the Black Sea, and Moscow’s six-7 days-outdated invasion of its neighbour has stalled Ukrainian exports.

The FAO last thirty day period reported food stuff and feed rates could increase by up to 20% as a consequence of the conflict in Ukraine, increasing the chance of enhanced malnutrition. read through more

The agency’s cereal selling price index climbed 17% in March to a document degree though its vegetable oil index surged 23%, also registering its maximum reading through nonetheless, FAO explained.

Disruption to supplies of crops from the Black Sea area has exacerbated selling price rises in foods commodities, which have been now functioning at 10-calendar year highs in the FAO’s index ahead of the war in Ukraine due to world-wide harvest issues.

Sugar and dairy price ranges also rose sharply final thirty day period, the FAO explained.

In independent cereal provide and desire estimates on Friday, the FAO cut its projection of globe wheat production in 2022 to 784 million tonnes, from 790 million final month, as it factored in the possibility that at least 20% of Ukraine’s winter season crop location would not be harvested.

The revised world wide wheat output estimate was however 1% earlier mentioned the former year’s amount, it said.

The agency lowered its projection of global cereals trade in the 2021/22 marketing 12 months as greater exports from Argentina, India, the European Union and the United States ended up anticipated to only offset some of the disruption to Black Sea exports.

Overall cereal trade in 2021/22 was revised down by 14.6 million tonnes from the preceding regular monthly outlook to 469 million tonnes, now 2% below the 2020/21 amount.

Projected world cereal shares at the close of 2021/22 were revised up by 15 million tonnes to virtually 851 million tonnes, mostly since of expectations that export disruption will guide to even bigger stockpiles in Ukraine and Russia, the FAO additional.

Reporting by Gus Trompiz enhancing by Jason Neely, Jan Harvey and Barbara Lewis

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