The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that the World Food Price Index surged in March 2022, reaching its highest level ever.
"The World Food Price Index averaged 159.3 points in March 2022, up 17.9 points or 12.6% from February 2022, jumping to a new high since 1990," the FAO wrote on its official website on Friday (8/4/2022).
The FAO World Food Price Index is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of major food commodities, covering cereals, vegetable oils, dairy products, meat, and sugar.
Factors Driving Price Increases
In March 2022, the highest price increase occurred in vegetable oils, which increased by 23.2% compared to the previous month.
The FAO assessed that the increase was driven by the rising prices of sunflower oil, palm oil, soybean oil, and rapeseed oil.
"International sunflower oil prices increased substantially in March 2022, driven by reduced export supplies amid the ongoing conflict in the Black Sea region," explained the FAO.
The price index for cereals also rose by 17.1% in March 2022 compared to the previous month.
"The surge in global wheat and grain prices was largely driven by export disruptions from Ukraine related to its conflict with Russia," explained the FAO.
"Concerns about harvest conditions in the United States (US) also influenced the increase in global wheat prices," it continued.
For other commodities, the FAO noted that in March 2022, the dairy price index rose by 2.6%, the meat price index rose by 4.8%, while the sugar price index rose by 6.7% compared to the previous month.
"The increase in international sugar prices in March 2022 was mainly driven by a sharp rise in international crude oil prices, which increased expectations of greater sugarcane use for ethanol production in Brazil," explained the FAO.
In general, the FAO also assessed that the price increases occurred due to reduced supplies of food commodities from producing countries, while demand remained high globally.
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