PARIS (AFP) - The United
Nations food agency’s world price index fell marginally in November, marking an eighth straight monthly fall since a record high in March after the conflict in Ukraine started.
The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 135.7 points last month, down from 135.9 for October, the agency said.
The October figure was unchanged from the FAO’s previous estimate.
Lower readings for cereals, meat and dairy products in November offset higher prices for vegetable oils and sugar, the FAO said.
Last month’s agreement to prolong an UN-backed grain export channel from Ukraine for another 120 days has tempered worries about disruption to massive Black Sea trade.
The slight decrease in November meant that the FAO food index is now only 0.3 percent above its level a year earlier, the agency said.
The indicator, however, remains at historically high levels after reaching a 10-year peak in 2021 owing to harvest setbacks and brisk demand.
The FAO warned last month that expected record food import costs in 2022 would lead the poorest countries to cut back on shipped volumes.