According to a note released this Friday by the press office of the organization, the index, which follows the monthly changes in the prices of a set of food products traded globally, averaged 127.5 points in September 2024, growing 5.7 percent more than a year ago and, although it is still 20.4% below its maximum in March 2022, it was at its highest level since April 2023 due, in large part, to the increase in international prices for vegetable oils.

The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index rose 7.5 percent in November compared with October, and was 32 percent higher than in the same month last year.

Dairy product costs continued their upward trajectory in November, rising 0.6 percent from the previous month, largely due to a recovery in global import demand for whole milk powder, while butter and cheese prices also rose.

However, cereal price indices fell by 2.7 percent, as global wheat quotations declined due to lower international import demand and increased supplies from the ongoing southern hemisphere harvests.

Meanwhile, world maize prices remained stable and all rice prices declined by 4.0 percent in November, the latter driven by increased market competition, crop pressures, and currency fluctuations.

The sugar price index fell 2.4 percent from October, reflecting the start of the harvest season in India and Thailand, easing concerns about prospects for next year’s sugarcane crop in Brazil, where recent rains improved soil moisture.

As for meat, the price index fell 0.8 percent in November, mainly due to lower pork quotations in the European Union, due to abundant supply and weak global and domestic demand. Global prices for sheepmeat and poultry also fell slightly, while those for cattle remained stable, as lower prices in Australia offset higher Brazilian export prices.

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