October 30, 2021
The FAO’s Food Price Index showed an increase in September for the second month in a row since its low point in July. The increase was driven mostly by higher prices of cereals and vegetable oils. Altogether, it marks a 1.2% increase over August and a 32.8% increase over September 2020.
Cereals such as world wheat, rice, and barley were all up in September, a 27.3% increase over the year before. Wheat was up 41% from September 2020 while maize stayed stable, but still almost 38% above September of the year before.
Oils have risen by 60% over the past year and by 1.7% from the month before. Rapeseed rose while soy and sunflower declined. Palm oil rose for the third month due to lower production in Malaysia. Malaysia is facing migrant labor shortages which has coincided with increased global demand.
Meat was up 26.3% from a year earlier, but after nine months of month-on-month increases, poultry abated and slipped due to higher global supply.
Sugar, up 53.5% from September 2020, continues to rise based on fears of reduced output from Brazil. Brazil is the world’s largest sugar exporter, but faces long dry spells and frosts, which are the drivers of supply concerns.
The next report from the FAO is scheduled for November 4th. Make sure to check back here for a breakdown of that report.
If you’d like to check out the full dataset, visit:
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