The benchmark index of international food prices fell for the 11th month in a row in February, dropping 18.7% compared to the peak in March 2022 and 0.6% compared to January this year, the FAO announced yesterday.

Data published yesterday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) shows that in February this year, the benchmark index of international food prices fell again, a trend already registered 11 months ago, to an average of 129.8 points.

This is a drop of 18.7% compared to the peak in March 2022 and 0.6% compared to January 2023, according to the FAO, which attributes these reductions to "falls in the prices of vegetable oils and dairy products which more than offset a sharp rise in sugar prices".

In information published on its website, the FAO, quoted by Lusa, points out that in February the sugar price index rose by 6.9% compared to January to its highest level in six years, mainly due to "a downward revision of production forecast for 2022/23 in India and favorable crop prospects in other suppliers combined with lower international crude oil prices and ethanol prices in Brazil".

For its part, the cereal price index remained virtually unchanged in February compared to the previous month this year, as "concerns about dry conditions in the United States and strong demand for supplies from Australia were largely countered by strong competition among exporters," according to the FAO.

International rice prices, meanwhile, fell by 1% "due to a slowdown in trading activities in most of the main Asian exporters", while the vegetable oil price index fell by 3.2% compared to January "with world prices for palm, soybean, sunflower and rapeseed oils all lower".

As for the FAO's milk price index, it fell by 2.7% during the month, with international prices for butter and skimmed milk powder showing the sharpest decline, while that for meat remained virtually unchanged since January.

Just yesterday, the FAO published its forecast for world wheat production in 2023, with the UN agency predicting a harvest of around 784 million tons, which if realized would be the second largest ever recorded, mainly due to the production of American farmers, who have expanded their acreage encouraged by rising cereal prices.