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. Collapsing international crude oil prices reduced demand for sugarcane to produce ethanol, diverting output to producing sugar and hence expanding export availabilities. Prices of coarse grains, including maize, by contrast fell by 10 percent, driven down by reduced demand for its use for both animal feed and biofuel production. Lower utilization rates lead to higher world cereal stocks at the close of 2020 seasons, now pegged at 884 million tonnes, or 13.6 million tonnes above their opening levels. World trade in cereals in 2019/20 is forecast to increase by 2.8 percent to 422 million tonnes, led by sorghum and wheat.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 07, 2020 16:30 UTC