Global food prices averaged 132.4 points in December, a three-year low, marking the ninth consecutive monthly decline, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization said Jan. 6.
The December index was down by 2.6 points from November and stood 1.3 points below its value from a year ago.
But for 2022, the average value of the Food and Agriculture Organization's food price index was a record-high of 143.7 points, up 14.3% from 2021.
"Calmer food commodity prices are welcome after two very volatile years," said FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero. "It is important to remain vigilant and keep a strong focus on mitigating global food insecurity given that world food prices remain at elevated levels, with many staples near-record highs, and with prices of rice increasing, and still many risks associated with future supplies."
Vegetable oil and cereal prices fall
The FAO Cereal Price Index averaged 147.3 points in December, down 2.9 points from November, but still 6.8 points above its December 2021.
This was led by a fall in wheat export prices in December as ongoing harvest in major countries, such as Australia boosted crop supplies and competition among exporters. Also, world corn prices eased on month mostly driven by strong competition from Brazil despite dryness concerns in Argentina. The price decline in corn and wheat markets pulled down the prices of both sorghum and barley.
The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index averaged 144.4 points in December, down 10.3 points from November and hitting its lowest level since February 2021.
The decrease in the index was driven by lower international price quotations across major vegetable oils such as palm, soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower oils. While world palm oil prices dropped nearly 5%, led by sluggish global import demand and world soybean oil, rapeseed, and SFO international prices dropped on account of ample global supplies and subdued import demand.
A moderate surge in dairy and sugar prices
The FAO Dairy Price Index averaged 139.1 points in December, up 1.5 points from November, rising after five months of consecutive declines and surpassing by 10.1 points its value a year ago.
This was led by a surge in international cheese prices mainly reflecting a robust global import demand and somewhat tighter export availabilities amid high internal retail and services sector sales, especially in Western Europe.
The FAO Sugar Price Index averaged 117.2 points in December, up 2.8 points on the month, registering the second consecutive monthly increase and reaching its highest level in the past six months.
The December increase in international sugar price quotations mostly was related to concerns over the impact of adverse weather conditions on crop yields in India, the world's second-largest sugar producer, and sugarcane crushing delays in Thailand and Australia.
