Friday, 04 June 2021 10:15

Global food prices rise at rapid pace in May

Written by  Staff Reporters
The FAO Cereal Price Index rose 6%, led by international maize prices. The FAO Cereal Price Index rose 6%, led by international maize prices.

Global food prices rose at their fastest monthly rate in more than a decade in May, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has reported.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 127.1 points in May, 4.8% higher than in April and 39.7% higher than in May 2020.

A surge in the international prices of vegetable oils, sugar and cereals led the increase in the index to its highest value since September 2011 and only 7.6% below its all-time peak in nominal terms.

The FAO Cereal Price Index increased 6% from April, led by international maize prices, which averaged 89.9% above their value a year earlier.

The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index gained 7.8% in May, mainly reflecting rising palm, soy and rapeseed oil quotations.

The FAO Sugar Price Index increased by 6.8% from April, due largely to harvest delays and concerns over reduced crop yields in Brazil, even as large export volumes from India contributed to easing the price surge.

The FAO Meat Price Index increased by 2.2% from April, with quotations for all meat types rising due to a faster pace of import purchases by China, as well as rising internal demand for poultry and pig meats in the leading producing regions.

The FAO Dairy Price Index rose by 1.8% in May, averaging 28% above its level of May 2020. The increase was led by solid import demand for skim and whole milk powders, while butter prices declined for the first time in almost a year on increased export supplies from New Zealand.

More like this

FAO Food Price Index inches up

The benchmark for world food commodity prices increased for the third consecutive month in May, as higher prices of cereals and dairy products outweighed decreases in quotations for sugar and vegetable oils, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports.

Let's take our hats off to dairy farmers!

It’s World Milk Day today (June 1), a time to celebrate the vital role that milk, and dairy products play in our lives and acknowledge the tremendous contributions of the New Zealand dairy sector.

Featured

Editorial: The Price of Progress

OPINION: Alistair Carmichael raises some interesting questions about striking a balance between profitability in farming and preserving the character of rural communities.

NZ Ploughing Champions' Gear Stuck at Sea Before Worlds

Ploughing champions Mark Dillon and Malcolm Taylor earned the right to represent the country at the World Ploughing Championships in Osijek, Croatia, on 5 and 6 September, after winning their titles at the New Zealand Ploughing Championships in Middlemarch in 2025.

National

Machinery & Products

 

 

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

True Reflection?

A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any…

Civil Circus!

OPINION: It really is getting harder to lampoon government bureaucrats when they do such a good job of it themselves.…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter