Global food prices fell for the first time in January.

Global food prices fell for the first time this past January, with grains, sugar, vegetable oils, and meat all declining in price, except for powdered milk which saw a slight increase.

Farmers working in a wheat field in India. Source: VNA

On February 6th, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a report stating that the average food price index for January 2014 reached 203.4 points, a decrease of 1.3% compared to December 2013 and 4.4% compared to January 2013.

This index reflects the change in the international price scale of a basket of food items including meat, dairy, cereals, vegetable oils, and sugar.

According to FAO economist Abdolreza Abbassian, the decline in food prices is due to abundant supply; however, potentially high demand from increasing imports from Asia could prevent a further decline in global food prices in the near future.

The FAO report confirms that in January, sugar and vegetable oil production decreased by 5.6% and 3.8% respectively, while cereal production decreased by 1.6% compared to December 2013 and was 23% lower than in January 2013.

The FAO forecasts a positive outlook for food production in 2014, especially for cereals.

According to Vietnam+