OREANDA-NEWS. Global food commodity prices rose 31.3% in October from a year earlier and 3% from September, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 133.2 points and reached a new peak value, higher than in July 2011. The increase represents the third consecutive month of gains, the Organization said.

The organisation attributes the increase to September primarily to continued increases in global prices of vegetable oils and cereals.

Cereal prices rose in October by 3.2% compared to the previous month and by 22.4% year-on-year. Thus, for the fourth month, wheat prices continued to rise: they rose by 5% compared to September and by 38.3% year-on-year. Prices have been boosted by limited export supplies on world markets due to a smaller than expected harvest in the main exporting countries - Canada, Russia and the USA, FAO explained. In addition, prices of barley, maize and rice rose.

Global cereal consumption in 2021-2022 is expected to reach 2,812 million tonnes, up 1.7 percent from 2020-2021, FAO said. The organisation attributes this growth to an expected increase in global wheat consumption in parallel with population growth, as well as a projected increase in maize consumption for feed and industrial purposes.

A noticeable increase in prices is observed for dairy products (price index - 120.7 points). Meat, meanwhile, was falling in price by 0.7%. Pork prices are falling the most. This is due to reduced purchases in China. Beef is also getting cheaper.

Poultry meat quotations, on the other hand, are rising, due to high demand, while production is slowly recovering, driven by higher feed costs and outbreaks of avian flu. Sugar fell in price by 1.8%. Demand is low and India and Thailand are increasing their exports.

The Financial Times earlier reported that the cost of a "typical breakfast" has risen by the highest amount in 10 years this year. A typical breakfast includes coffee, milk, sugar, oats, wheat and orange juice. The prices of these products have risen by 63% in two years. Analysts expect prices to rise further in 2022.

The fact is that during the coronavirus pandemic, production chains were disrupted, and with demand recovering, the economy has not had time to reach capacity to meet it. Energy price hikes contributed significantly to the rise in prices.