FOOD PRICES AROUND THE WORLD REMAIN STEADY IN OCTOBER: UN

Sat 05 November 2022:

Global food prices were stable in October, however cereal costs increased due to the lack of certainty around a pact providing safe passage for Ukrainian grains on the Black Sea, according to a UN body.

Since reaching an all-time high in March following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, one of the world’s leading exporters of wheat and cooking oil, food prices have been declining.

The Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday that its price index, which measures the monthly change in the price of a selection of food commodities on the international market, averaged 135.9 points in October, a little decline from September.

But its cereal price index averaged 152.3 points in October, 4.4 points higher than in the previous month.

Wheat prices were up 3.2 percent, “mostly reflecting continued uncertainties related to the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” it said.

Ukraine is one of the world’s top producers and the Russian invasion had blocked 20 million tonnes of grain in its ports until the safe passage deal was agreed in July.

The renewal deadline, November 19, was spelled out in the initial agreement negotiated by the UN and Türkiye to avert a worldwide food emergency, but Russia has not yet decided whether to extend the grain pact beyond that date.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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