Global food prices rise in August to highest since late 2022, UN reports

PARIS: World food prices rose in August to their highest since late 2022, ​as adverse weather and war disruption ​in the Black Sea heightened concern over supply of staples, the United ​Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday.Extreme heat and drought in Europe, the threat of a severe El Nino weather pattern and trade upheaval caused by the Ukraine and Iran wars have unsettled agricultural markets, pushing grain ‌prices to three-year ⁠highs and ⁠sugar to a one-year peak.The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in a basket of internationally traded food ​commodities, averaged 133.3 points in August, up from July's revised reading of 130.8.That was the highest score since ​November 2022, though nearly 17% below a record peak from March 2022, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine."August's increase in global food prices is a warning that the risk premium is returning ​to food markets: climate shocks, geopolitical tensions and disrupted trade logistics ⁠are converging ‌to tighten supply expectations," FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero said in a ​statement.The FAO's price ​benchmarks for cereals, vegetable oils, sugar, meat and dairy all rose in ⁠August.The extreme weather in Europe affected prospects for the maize (corn) and ​sugar beet harvests as well as livestock output, while the anticipated El ​Nino phenomenon fuelled concerns for palm oil and sugar output in Asia, it said.Escalating attacks in the Black Sea have curtailed grain shipments from Russia and Ukraine in their 4-1/2-year-old war, while the U.S.-Iran conflict was straining flows of fertiliser for crops.Among food categories, FAO's cereals price index rose 2.2% month-on-month to its highest since May 2024, and the vegetable oil index edged up ‌0.6% to its highest since June 2022.The agency's sugar benchmark jumped 11.9% to its highest since June 2025, with lower production in Brazil's crucial center-south region ​adding to weather ​concerns in Europe and Asia.In ⁠a separate report, the agency cut its 2026 global cereal production forecast by 3.4 million metric tons from a previous estimate in July to 2.980 billion tons, now 2.0% below 2025 in the ​largest annual decline since 2018.Projected output would still be the second-largest on record, however.Forecast world cereal stocks at the close of 2026/2027 were revised down 1.1% to 947.2 million tons, now only marginally above the previous season.A reduced estimate of coarse grain stocks outweighed an upward revision for wheat that reflected an anticipated build-up in Russian and Ukrainian stocks due to shipping disruption, the FAO said.

PARIS, France (AFP) — Food price inflation accelerated in August as drought and conflicts impacted commodity markets, with sugar prices hitting their highest level in more than a year, United Nations (UN) data showed Friday. The food price index compiled by the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization rose by 1.9 per cent in August from July, and by 2.5 per cent from the level of August 2025. That was an acceleration from July, when prices rose by 0.6 per cent over the month and one per cent over the year. Europe was gripped by exceptional heat this summer, leading to a drop in crop yields, while the El Nino climate phenomenon threatens production in Asia. Sugar prices surged 11.9 per cent in consequence, hitting their highest level since June 2025. Wheat prices jumped 15 per cent from last year, in part due to "persistent disruptions to Black Sea export logistics" linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the FAO said. It also noted that "concerns over input supplies following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz provided additional support to maize prices", which climbed 2.5 per cent. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the Mideast war has caused a surge in fuel prices but also closed off a major source of fertiliser supplies, compounding concerns about supplies and higher prices over the longer term.

World food prices at highest since 2022, says UN World food prices rose in August to their highest since late 2022, impacted partly by the war on Iran, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Friday. Extreme heat and drought in Europe, the threat of a severe El Nino weather pattern and trade upheaval caused by the Ukraine and Iran wars have unsettled agricultural markets, pushing grain prices to three-year highs and sugar to a one-year peak, the agency said. The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in a basket of internationally traded food commodities, averaged 133.3 points in August, up from July's revised reading of 130.8. That was the highest score since November 2022, though nearly 17 percent below a record peak from March 2022, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported. Escalating attacks in the Black Sea have curtailed grain shipments from Russia and Ukraine, while the war on Iran is still straining flows of fertiliser for crops.