World food price index up for second month in April, says U.N. agency

FAO reports rise in global food prices for second month, driven by meat, vegetable oils, and cereals

The United Nations food agency's world price index rose for a second consecutive month in April as higher meat prices and slight gains for vegetable oils and cereals outweighed decreases for sugar and dairy products.

The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 119.1 points in April, up from a revised 118.8 points for the previous month, the agency said on May 3.

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The FAO's April reading was nonetheless 7.4% below the level a year earlier.

The indicator hit a three-year low in February as food prices continued to move back from a record peak in March 2022 at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of fellow crop exporter Ukraine.

In April, meat showed the strongest gain in prices, rising 1.6% from the prior month. Higher prices for poultry, beef and sheep meat offset a small fall for pork, which was affected by slow demand in Western Europe and from leading importers, especially China, the FAO said.

The FAO's cereal index inched up to end a three-month decline, supported by stronger export prices for maize (corn). Vegetable oil prices also ticked higher, extending previous gains to reach a 13-month high due to strength in sunflower and rapeseed oil.