Food at the same price – Newspaper Kommersant No. 207 (7408) dated 09.11.

According to the calculations of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the value of the food price index in October amounted to 135.9 points – practically remaining at the level of September (136 points). After jumping to a historic high in March, when the index rose by 33.6% yoy and 12.6% against February against the backdrop of events in Ukraine, the index has been declining for the seventh month in a row. At the same time, its value is still higher than last year’s level. Thus, although the index decreased by 14.9% relative to March, in annual terms (by October 2021) it increased by 2%.

FAO monitors the prices of five food groups: grains, meat, vegetable oil, sugar and dairy products. In October (as well as in September) only grain prices went up. The value of the price index for them amounted to 152.3 points, having increased by 3% over the month, and by 11.1% year-on-year. Compared to September, prices increased for all major types of grain. For example, for wheat they increased by 3.2%. The main reason for this in the FAO is the continuing uncertainty around the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The increase in tension in the market was also affected by the reduction in supply in the United States following the revision of production forecasts downward. World prices for feed grains grew by 3.5% over the month, the highest growth was demonstrated by prices for corn – plus 4.3%.

Prices for vegetable oils decreased by 1.6% compared to September and by almost 20% compared to October last year. “The continued fall in this index was due to the decline in world prices for palm, soybean and rapeseed oils, which more than offset the growth in sunflower oil quotations,” the FAO said in a statement. The Dairy Price Index fell 1.7% from September, falling for the fourth month in a row, but it was 15.4% higher than in October last year.

World meat prices in October decreased by 1.4% compared to September (continue to fall for the fourth month in a row), and the decline affected all types of meat. At the same time, the value of this index still exceeds the figure for the same period last year (by 5.8%). The sugar price index is 0.6% lower than in September, but 8.5% higher than a year earlier.

Venera Petrova