Farm workers are seen at a paddy field on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India. (Reuters)

The FAO All Rice Price Index rose by 9.8 percent in August from July to reach a 15-year nominal high, reflecting trade disruptions in the aftermath of a ban on Indica white rice exports by India.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of globally-traded food commodities, averaged 121.4 points in August, down 2.1 percent from July and as much as 24 percent below its March 2022 peak.

The drop reflected declines in the price indices for dairy products, vegetable oils, meat, and cereals.

The FAO Cereal Price Index declined by 0.7 percent from July. Maize prices fell for the seventh month in a row to the lowest levels in three years amid ample global supplies of maize from a record harvest in Brazil and the imminent start of the harvest in the US.

The FAO Sugar Price Index rose by 1.3 percent from July, averaging in August as much as 34 percent higher than its value a year ago.

In August, dairy products prices declined 4 percent, recording a decline for the eighth month in a row, influenced by abundant supplies, especially from Oceania, and a slowdown in the pace of imports by China.

FAO also released a new Cereal Supply and Demand Brief, which forecasts that world cereal production in 2023 will increase by 0.9 percent from the previous year to reach 2.815 million tons, on par with the record output realized in 2021.

Published Date: September 10, 2023