FAO: GLOBAL FOOD COMMODITY PRICES DROP FURTHER IN APRIL
Press release... FAO expects subdued usage to push up cereal stocks in 2019/20 and FAO’s first forecast for wheat markets in 2020/21 points to continued growth in inventories 07 May 2020, Rome - World food commodity prices declined for the third month in a row during April, as the economic and logistical impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant contractions in demand for many commodities. The FAO Food Price Index , which tracks international prices of the most commonly-traded food commodities, averaged 165.5 points in April, some 3.4 percent lower than the previous month and 3 percent lower than April 2019. The FAO Sugar Price Index hit a 13-year low, declining 14.6 percent from March, when it posted an even larger monthly drop. Collapsing international crude oil prices reduced demand for sugarcane to produce ethanol, diverting output to producing sugar and hence expanding export availabilities. Meanwhile, confinement measures in a number of countries spawn...