The FAO’s “Food Price Index” has reached its highest level in more than three years

🔸The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) announced that global food prices in July reached their highest level in more than three years.

🔸In the report, published on Friday, 16 Mordad, the reason for this price increase was cited as unfavorable weather conditions in some producing countries and the escalation of the war in the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea region.

🔸The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the prices of a basket of food commodities traded in international markets, averaged 131.1 points in July, while the figure was 130.3 points in June.

🔸This is the highest level of the index since January 2023, when the food price index—also affected by Russia’s widespread attacks on Ukraine—had crossed 144 points.

🔸FAO said that a 3.4% increase in the organization’s cereals price index compared to the previous month was the main driver of this trend; an increase that was itself caused by a 5.8% jump in wheat prices.

🔸Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter and has a 20% share in total global wheat trade. Ukraine is also the world’s fifth-largest wheat exporter. In recent weeks, the cross attacks by Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea have effectively disrupted wheat exports from both countries.

🔸In the same month, global corn prices also rose by 3.6%. The reasons cited were concerns about extreme heat and drought in parts of the United States, as well as the effect of rising energy prices following the intensification of geopolitical tensions. By contrast, the FAO rice price index in July remained almost unchanged.

🔸The FAO index for vegetable oil prices also increased by two percent compared to June, reaching its highest level since June 2022.

🔸Read the full report on Radio Farda’s website.