ROME, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- The month of November witnessed a marked price volatility of food commodities, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Friday. Nevertheless, the overall FAO Food Price Index was unchanged from a month earlier, but it was nearly 11 percent below its level from a year earlier, FAO said.
Prices in the subindexes for vegetable oil, dairy and sugar were up for the month, while cereals and grains and meat subindexes fell.
Prices for grains and cereals, the largest component in the index, fell 3.0 percent compared to October and were 19.4 percent below their levels in 2022. Corn, wheat and barley prices pushed the index lower, while prices for rice and sorghum were stable.
Meat prices slipped by a modest 0.4 percent, edging lower on lower prices for poultry, pig and bovine meat.
Vegetable oil prices were the biggest mover within the index, rising by 3.4 percent after falling for three consecutive months. Higher prices for pail and sunflower oil were the biggest factor, FAO said.
Dairy prices climbed by 2.2 percent amid rising demand from Asia for butter and skim milk powder, while sugar prices gained 1.4 percent due to worries about supply issues from Thailand and India, two of the world's largest sugar exporters. The sugar subindex is now 41.1 percent of its level from a year earlier. ■
