FAO Food Price Index Drops By 3 Points
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Food Price Index averaged 211 points in November 2012, down 3 points (1.5%) from October and the lowest since June 2012, FAO said today. Except for dairy, international prices of all the commodity groups included in the index fell in November, with sugar undergoing the sharpest dip, followed by oils and cereals. The decline puts the November index value nearly 3% below one year ago.
Meanwhile, FAO's Crop Prospects and Food Situation states that in spite of a contraction in overall cereal utilization in 2012-13, the world cereal stock-to-use ratio is projected to decline by two percentage points from the previous season. "Early prospects for the Northern Hemisphere winter wheat crops for harvest in 2013 are mixed: growing conditions in the EU are generally favourable but dry weather is adversely affecting emergence and crop establishment in key producing areas of the United States and the Russian Federation," it states.
