World Food Prices Steady In March, Un's Fao Says

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PARIS, April 4 (Reuters) - Global nutrient commodity prices edged up successful March, pinch a crisp emergence successful rootlike oils offsetting declines successful cereals and sugar, nan United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization said connected Friday.

The

FAO Food Price Index, opens caller tab

, which tracks monthly changes successful a handbasket of internationally traded nutrient commodities, averaged 127.1 points successful March against a revised estimate of 126.8 for February.

The March reference was up 6.9% from a twelvemonth earlier but 20.7% beneath a March 2022 highest pursuing Russia's full-scale penetration of Ukraine.

For rootlike oils, FAO's value scale accrued by 3.7% from February, pinch quotations for palm, soy, rapeseed and sunflower oils each rising connected nan backmost of beardown import demand, nan agency said.

The value reference for rootlike oils was up 23.9% from a twelvemonth earlier.

FAO's cereal value parameter was down 2.6% from nan erstwhile period and now showing a 1.1% year-on-year decrease.

Wheat prices fell, arsenic concerns complete harvest conditions successful immoderate awesome Northern Hemisphere exporting countries eased. Maize (corn) and sorghum quotations besides declined, while barley prices accrued slightly.

FAO's all-rice scale fell 1.7% from nan anterior period amid anemic import request and ample export supply, nan agency said.

Average sweetener prices dropped by 1.6%, driven by signs of weaker world demand. Rainfall successful confederate Brazil contributed to nan decline, though losses were constricted by concerns astir wide prospects successful Brazil and besides India, FAO said.

The nutrient value scale roseate 0.9% connected nan month, pinch FAO citing higher pig nutrient prices successful Europe aft Germany regained food-and-mouth-disease-free status.

World poultry nutrient prices remained mostly unchangeable successful March, contempt wide avian influenza outbreaks successful immoderate awesome producing countries, it said.

The dairy value scale was unchanged from February.

In a abstracted

cereal report, opens caller tab

, FAO accrued somewhat its estimate of world cereal accumulation past year, to 2.849 cardinal metric tons from 2.842 cardinal previously.

For 2025, FAO kept unchanged its forecast of world wheat accumulation astatine 795 cardinal tons, besides small changed from 2024.

(This communicative has been corrected to show barley prices accrued aft FAO corrected its reference, successful paragraph 7)

Reporting by Gus Trompiz; Editing by Alison Williams and Toby Chopra

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