World food prices rose to a record high in January, according to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).<\/p>\n
The FAO Food Price Index, which measures the wholesale price of basic foods within a basket, averaged 231 points last month – its highest level since records began in 1990.
\nIt was up 3.4% from December, the seventh monthly rise for the index.
\n“These high prices are likely to persist in the months to come,” FAO economist Abdolreza Abbassian said.
\nThe index is now higher than June 2008 when the cost of food sparked violent protests in countries including Cameroon, Haiti and Egypt.
\nThe individual group components of the index, apart from meat, all registered rises in January.
\nThe Cereal Price Index averaged 245 points in January reflecting rises in the price of wheat and grain. This was driven higher by flooding in Australia, which is a major wheat exporter.
\nRice prices fell slightly as the data coincided with harvests in many countries.<\/p>\n
Contamination fear<\/strong><\/p>\n Rises were particularly high for dairy products, up 6.2% from December. Prices were driven higher by a combination of lower supply and increasing demand in emerging economies such as China and India. World food prices rose to a record high in January, according to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). The FAO Food Price Index, which measures the wholesale price of basic foods within a basket, averaged 231 points last month – its highest level since records began in 1990. It was up 3.4% from December, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nThe Meat Price Index held steady at 166 points despite falling prices in Europe where a large amount of animal feed was found to have been contaminated with dioxin.
\nThis was offset by a small increase in meat prices in Brazil and the United States.
\nSugar prices also remained high due to tight supplies.
\nPolitical unrest<\/strong>
\nThe high price of food is thought to have been a factor in recent political unrest in both Algeria and Tunisia in the form of anti-government demonstrations, protests which have spread to neighbouring Egypt and Jordan.
\nRecently, white sugar futures hit a record high because of concerns about the damage Cyclone Yasi could cause to the Australian cane crop.
\nWorld Bank President Robert Zoellick has asked global leaders to “put food first” and tackle the problem of price volatility.
\n“We are going to be facing a broader trend of increasing commodity prices, including food commodity prices,” he said.
\nCommodities prices have been on the rise generally with copper hitting a record high of $10,000 a tonne.
\nOil was also up on Thursday with Brent crude rising to $103.37 a barrel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"