ROME, JANUARY 6 – In Rome today the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said that world food prices fell slightly in December as international prices for vegetable oils and sugar fell significantly from sky-high levels.
The FAO Food Price Index in December had a 0.9 per cent decline from November but still up 23.1 per cent from a year to date, that is compared to December 2020.
For 2021, the FAO Food Price Index was 28.1 per cent higher than the previous year. “While normally high prices are expected to give way to increased production, the high cost of inputs, ongoing global pandemic and ever more uncertain climatic conditions leave little room for optimism about a return to more stable market conditions even in 2022, ” said FAO Senior Economist Abdolreza Abbassian.
The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index declined 3.3 percent in December, with weaker quotations for palm oil and sunflower oil reflecting subdued global import demand that may be linked to concerns over the impact of rising COVID-19 cases. For 2021 as a whole, the FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index reached an all-time high, increasing 65.8 percent from 2020.
The FAO Sugar Price Index decreased by 3.1 percent from November, reaching a five-month low, reflecting concerns over the possible impact of the Omicron COVID-19 variant on global demand as well as a weaker Brazilian Real and lower ethanol prices. For 2021 as a whole, the FAO Sugar Price Index rose 29.8 percent from the previous year to its highest level since 2016. (@OnuItalia)
