Food prices exceeded the highest levels in a decade last year. This is according to The Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) food price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities.
Figures for 2021 show an average of 125.7 points, the highest since 131.9 in 2011. Global food prices jumped a staggering 28pc, making a return to more stable market conditions unlikely in the near future.
The FAO’s senior economist, Abdolreza Abbassian, echoed this in a statement saying added that, “while normally high prices are expected to give way to increased production, the high cost of inputs, ongoing global pandemic, and ever more uncertain climatic conditions leave little room for optimism.”
A surge in the price of fertilisers, linked in turn to spiralling energy prices, amplified the cost of inputs used by farmers to produce crops, raising doubts over yield prospects for upcoming harvests.
The start of 2022 also saw volatile trading in crop futures, with oilseed markets impacted by drought in South America and floods in Malaysia. Dairy prices maintained their recent strength in December, which was helped by lower milk production in Western Europe and Oceania, the FAO said.
The food agency remains uncertain about whether price pressures might abate this year.
LSL News.