The United Nations’ world food price index saw a significant increase in September, marking its largest gain in 18 months, primarily due to soaring sugar prices. The index rose to 124.4 points from 120.7 in August, reflecting a 2.1% increase year-on-year.
Key highlights include:
The sugar index surged by 10.4% month-on-month, influenced by poor crop forecasts in Brazil and India’s decision to lift restrictions on sugarcane use for ethanol, raising concerns about export availability.
The cereal price index increased by 3.0%, led by rising wheat and maize prices, while rice prices fell by 0.7%.
Vegetable oil prices rose by 4.6%, with increases across palm, soy, sunflower, and rapeseed oils.
Dairy prices climbed by 3.8%, with higher prices for whole milk powder, skim milk powder, butter, and cheese. Meat prices saw a slight increase of 0.4%.
In a separate report, the FAO slightly raised its global cereal production forecast for 2024 to 2.853 billion tonnes, up from 2.851 billion tonnes, driven by higher rice and wheat outputs. However, global cereal stocks at the end of the 2025 season were forecasted to decrease by 1.7 million tonnes to 888.1 million.