World food prices fall to near 5-year low in April: UN FAO

Reuters , Thursday 7 May 2015

Food
An employee arranges pricetags at a vegetables work bench during the opening day of upmarket Italian food hall chain Eataly's flagship store in downtown Milan, March 18, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)

Global food prices fell in April to their lowest since June 2010 with prices sliding for most commodities, led by dairy, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 171 points in April, 1.2 percent below its reading in March.

The FAO lowered its forecast for world cereal production in 2015-16 to 2.509 billion tonnes, below the March forecast of 2.548 billion tonnes.

Cereal stocks at the end of the 2015-16 season are now forecast to reach 626.6 million tonnes, down from a previous reading of 645.6 million tonnes.

Short link: