World food prices fell to near 5-year low in April: UN food agency

Global food prices fell in April to their lowest since June 2010, with prices sliding for most commodities, led by dairy prices, says the United Nations food agency. -- PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Global food prices fell in April to their lowest since June 2010, with prices sliding for most commodities, led by dairy prices, says the United Nations food agency. -- PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

ROME (Reuters) - Global food prices fell in April to their lowest since June 2010, with prices sliding for most commodities, led by dairy prices, the United Nations food agency said on Wednesday.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture's (FAO) price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 171 points in April, 1.2 per cent below its reading in March.

FAO lowered its forecast for world cereal production in 2015-2016 to 2.509 billion tonnes, below the March forecast of 2.548 billion tonnes.

Cereal stocks at the end of the 2015-16 season are now forecast to reach 626.6 million tonnes, down from a previous reading of 645.6 million tonnes.

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