Global food prices rose for the first time in seven months in March, with a dramatic increase in prices for vegetable oil setting the pace, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported on Friday.
The FAO said its broad Food Price Index had climbed 1.1 percent in March compared to a month earlier. It was the index’s first increase of any kind since last July.
Despite the increase, the broad index was still 7.7 percent below its level from March 2023, the FAO said.
Vegetable oil prices rose 8.0 percent.
Rising palm oil prices were driven by seasonal drops in output in leading producing nations that coincided with strong demand in Southeast Asia, while demand from the biofuel sector pulled up soy oil prices.
Dairy prices rose by 2.9 percent in March on a monthly basis, while meat prices climbed 1.7 percent.
Meanwhile, cereals prices slid 2.6 percent on a monthly basis, while sugar prices fell 5.4 percent.
Food prices reached a record high after Russia invaded agricultural power Ukraine in February 2022 but have dropped since then.
Last month’s uptick comes as inflation has slowed dramatically in many countries but a recent rebound in global oil prices has sparked concern it may persist at a level that could discourage central banks from cutting interest rates.
