The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) announced the August results of the Global Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in international prices of food products.
Accordingly, the index decreased by 0.3 points compared to the revised level of the previous month and fell to 120.7 points in August.
While global food prices fell by 1.1 percent on an annual basis, the index’s limited decline in August was due to the falling demand for sugar, meat and grain products outweighing the increasing demand for vegetable oil and dairy products.
The Cereal Price Index decreased by 0.5 percent in August compared to the previous month, driven by good harvest expectations in major exporting countries, particularly the United States and Argentina.
The Vegetable Oil Price Index increased due to the increase in palm oil despite the decrease in soybean and sunflower oils. Accordingly, the Vegetable Oil Price Index increased by 0.8 percent in August compared to the previous month.
The Sugar Price Index fell by 4.7 percent, driven by higher production in India and Thailand and lower international oil prices.
During the same period, the FAO Dairy Price Index increased by 2.2 percent in August, driven by increases in milk powder, cheese prices and butter demand.
The Meat Price Index decreased by 0.7 percent due to the decrease in poultry, cattle, sheep and pig prices.
