World food prices fell in June for the first time in 12 months, pushed lower by declines in vegetable oils, cereals and dairy products, the United Nations food agency said.
The Rome-based FAO also said in a statement Thursday that worldwide cereal harvests would come in at nearly 2.817 billion tonnes in 2021, slightly down on its previous estimate, but still on course to hit an annual record.
The Food and Agriculture Organization's food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 124.6 points last month versus a revised 127.8 in May.
The May figure was previously given as 127.1.
On a year-on-year basis, prices were up 33.9% in June.
FAO's vegetable oil price index plunged 9.8% in June, partly on the back of a fall in palm oil prices, which were hit by expectations of output gains in leading producers and a lack of fresh import demand. Soy and sunflower oil quotations also dropped.
The cereal price index dropped 2.6% in June month-on-month, but was still up 33.8% year-on-year. Corn prices fell 5%, partly because of higher-than-expected yields in Argentina and improved crop conditions in the United States.
International rice prices also fell in June, touching 15-month lows, as high freight costs and container shortages continued to limit export sales, FAO said.
Dairy prices dipped 1% on a monthly basis, with all components of the index easing. Butter recorded the largest drop, hit by a rapid decline in global import demand and a slight increase in inventories, especially in Europe.
The sugar index posted a 0.9% month-on-month gain, reaching its highest level since March 2017. The meat index rose 2.1% from May, with quotations for all meat types rising as increases in imports by some East Asian countries compensated for a slowdown in China's meat purchases.
