International meat prices went up in February, with poultry meat quotations rising the most, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The FAO Meat Price Index in February rose by 1.8 percent from January. Aside from poultry, bovine meat and pig meat prices also registered increases.
“[H]eavy rains [disrupted]cattle transportation in Australia. Pig meat prices also rose slightly due to higher demand from China and a tight supply situation in Western Europe,” FAO said in its report on world food commodity prices which it released last Friday.
International sugar and dairy prices were also higher last month, according to FAO.
Its sugar price index increased by 3.2 percent in February due to “persistent concerns” over Brazil’s upcoming output after a prolonged period of below-average rainfall as well as forecast production declines in Thailand and India, two leading exporting countries.
“The FAO Dairy Price Index increased by 1.1 percent, led by higher import demand from Asian buyers for butter. Prices of milk powders and cheese also rose marginally.”
Despite this, the FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a set of globally-traded food commodities, averaged 117.3 points in February, down 0.7 percent from January and 10.5 percent from the same month a year ago.
FAO said lower international quotations for all major cereals more than offset rising prices of sugar and meat.
“The FAO Cereal Price Index fell by 5 percent in February to reach a level 22.4 percent below that of February 2023. Maize export prices dropped the most amid expectations of large harvests in South America and competitive prices offered by Ukraine, while international wheat prices declined mostly due to a strong export pace from the Russian Federation,”
International rice prices declined by 1.6 percent in February, according to the report.
FAO also released its preliminary forecast for global wheat production in 2024, pegging it at 797 million tons, a 1-percent increase from 2023.
“Lower wheat prices have elicited a 6 percent year-on-year decline in winter wheat planting in the United States of America, where outputs may nonetheless rise due to strong yield prospects,” said FAO.
“Favorable weather conditions are also propping up expectations of increased 2024 wheat production in the Russian Federation, an export powerhouse, as well as above-average outputs in China, India and Pakistan.”