The month of July marked an increase in world food prices, a trend supported mainly by the end of the agreement on exports of grain from the Black Sea, according to FAO. The FAO food price index saw a cyclical increase of 1.3% in July, marking the first increase after three months of decline, bringing the index to 123.9 compared to 122.4 in June. Despite the increase, the index is still 11.8% lower than in July 2022.
The increase in global food prices has been driven mainly by the vegetable oil sector. The FAO vegetable oil price index recorded a 12.1% month-on-month increase, breaking a seven-month streak of consecutive declines. The rice price index also showed a significant upward trend, rising by 2.8% month-on-month, reaching its highest level in 12 years at current prices.
Conversely, some sectors continued to experience a decline in prices. The sugar price index fell for the second consecutive month, down 3.9%. In addition, the FAO cereal price index lost 0.5% on a monthly basis. However, the wheat price index showed an increase for the first time in nine months, fueled by uncertainty over Ukraine’s wheat exports.