CDMX.- For the first time in a year, world food prices rose slightly in April, due to an increase in sugar prices, said the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks the international costs of a basket of basic products, rose 0.6 percent from its March level.
“It is well below its level of a year ago, which was 19.7 percent, but it remains at a high level,” the agency highlighted.
He explained that in particular, the FAO sugar price index increased 17.6 percent compared to March, reaching a record level since October 2011.
“The reason: an expected drop in production in India, China and Thailand, linked in particular to the drought,” argued the international organization.
He added that the “slow start” to the sugarcane harvest in Brazil and rising international crude prices, which are driving demand for ethanol made from sugarcane, are pushing prices up.
Except for the costs of meat and rice, which he also indicated rose slightly, while all the other indices and particularly those of cereals (1.7 percent) and vegetable oils (1.3 percent) continued their decline in April.
“It is important to continue to closely monitor the evolution of prices and the factors of increases: as economies recover from a significant recession, demand will increase and exert upward pressure on food prices,” Máximo stressed. Torero, chief economist at FAO, in a statement.
