World food prices fell 3.7 per cent in July from the month before with declines seen across all crop types, the Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Thursday.

FAO said in Rome that the drop was the sharpest monthly drop since last December.

FAO’s food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar averaged 168.8 points in July against an upwardly revised 175.3 in June.

“The decline in July was driven by weaker export quotations for wheat, maize and rice,” FAO said.

“International wheat prices were generally weaker during the first half of the month, but concerns over production prospects in the EU and the Russian Federation started to push export values higher towards the end of the month,” it added.

The sharpest individual falls were registered in the dairy price index and the sugar price index.
FAO did not provide any new forecast for cereal output in 2018. The next new forecast will come on September 6.

(Reuters/NAN)