ROME, March 8 (Reuters): Global food commodity prices rose in February, driven by higher sugar, dairy, and vegetable oil prices, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations said on Friday.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in international prices of globally traded food commodities, averaged 127.1 points last month, up 1.6% from January and 8.2% from February 2024.
The jump was largely driven by sugar prices, which shot up 6.6% month-on-month, pushed higher by concerns over tighter global supplies for the 2024/25 season, partly because of unfavourable weather conditions in Brazil.
Dairy prices increased 4% from January, with all major dairy products rising, spurred on by strong import demand which exceeded production in key exporting regions.
Vegetable oil prices rose 2% month-on-month and 29.1% year-on-year, largely due to higher prices for palm, soy, and sunflower oils, driven by supply constraints in Southeast Asia and strong demand from the biodiesel sector. FAO's cereal price index edged up 0.7% from January.
Wheat prices increased due to tighter supplies in Russia and concerns over crop conditions in eastern Europe and north America, while maize prices continued to rise due to tightening supplies in Brazil and strong US export demand. Conversely, world rice prices fell by 6.8% in February.
Meat prices edged down 0.1% on the month.
In a separate report, the FAO predicted a modest increase in global wheat production for 2025, estimated at 796 million tonnes, some 1% higher than the previous year.
