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International prices of agricultural commodities drop
04.06.2010 09:34 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
International prices of key food staples have dropped during the first five months of 2010 according to the latest edition of FAO’s biannual Food Outlook report, released today.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 164 points in May 2010, down from 174 points in January and substantially less than its peak of 214 in the spring of 2008, the report notes.
A fall in international prices of cereals and sugar were among the main drivers behind this decline. Sugar prices have tumbled by half from their peak at the beginning of the year under prospects of significant production increases.
But, the agency noted, this still means the cost of the typical food commodity basket around the world today is some 69 percent higher than in 200204.
Most indicators point to increasing world supplies, a leading factor behind the sharp declines in international prices of major food staples this year, according to the report. «The 20082009 food prices boom spurred plantings and production of many crops, which has resulted in a recovery in inventories and boosting stocks-to-use ratios, a tendency likely to prevail also in 2010/11», it said.
First forecasts for the global cereal market in the new season 2010/11
Today’s Food Outlook provides FAO’s first forecasts for cereal trade, stocks and utilization in the coming 2010/11 season.
Early indications, according to the report, point towards another comfortable season, with world production in 2010 likely to match the record achieved in 2008, and global cereal inventories increasing for the third consecutive season.
Importantly, the growth in production may not be confined to exporters only, as many importing countries are also expected to harvest bumper crops.
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