FAO FPI Lowest Point Since 2010

The Food Price Index (FPI) published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) fell for the sixth month in a row in September 2014 averaging 191.5 points down 5.2 points from August and 12.2 points from the same time last year. The fall means that the index has now reached its lowest point since August 2010 and makes it the longest continuous period of falls since the 1990s. The five commodity groups that make up the FPI basket showed different degrees and directions of change with sugar and dairy the main contributors to the fall followed by cereals and oils, while meat remained firm.

World Food Prices Down For Second Month

The FAO Food Price Index fell for the second consecutive month in May 2014 to an average of 207.8, down 2.5 points (1.2%) from April and 7 points (3.2%) from May 2013. March saw the index rise to a ten month high of 213 points but it fell away again in May due to price pressures from the dairy, cereal and vegetable oil sectors. Sugar increased and meat remained stable.

FAO FPI Continues To Fall

The FAO Food Price Index (FPI) continued to fall in September as the index averaged 199.1 points, 2.3 points below the August average and 11 points on the beginning of the year. The index has fallen now for 5 consecutive months. The fall was driven by a sharp fall in the international price of cereals. The prices of all the other components of the index rose namely dairy, oils, meat and sugar.

World Food Prices Still Much Higher Than Last Year

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 211.3 in June nearly 2 points below its revised May value but still almost 11 points above the figure for June Last year. The slight decline reflects lower sugar and dairy prices and slightly less severe price decreases in cereals and oils. Meat prices went up 2% in June.

Farm Gate Prices Down In December

The prices farmers received for their products fell by 0.4% in December on November but is still 11.8% higher than last year. Farmers were also having to pay on average 3.2% more on the monthly comparison and 5.4% on the annual comparison for their goods and services. Main crop potatoes have almost doubled in price since December 2012 due to low yields and low quality. Cereal prices have grown by 10% from November and 38% on the annual comparison. Dessert apples' prices have increased by 9% on the month and 25% on the year. Sheep prices fell by 28% over the year due to higher volumes and cheap imports of sheep meat.

FPI 7% Fall In 2012

The Food Price Index for December 2012 published by the FAO was 1.1% down on November averaging at 209. It was the third consecutive fall in the FPI and the main contributing factors were falls in the international prices of cereals, oils and fats. The fall meant that for the whole year of 2012 the index averaged 7% less than in 2011 at 212. The biggest falls in prices in 2012 were in sugar (17.1%), dairy products (14.5%) and oils (10.7%). Cereals (2.4%) and meats (1.1%) had much more modest falls in prices. The fears of a food crisis in July when food prices were rising were therefore allayed.

FPI Remains The Same In October

The Food Price Index of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) was unchanged at 213.5 between September and October 2012. The Meat Price Index increased 0.1 to 174.3 and there were also increases in the Dairy and Sugar Prices Indices. There were decreases in the Cereals and Oils Prices Indices. These five components combined give the overall Food Price Index.

Fall In Global Food Prices In April

Global food prices fell by over 4 points in April according to the monthly Food Price Index (FPI) of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The FAO index of 213.9 compares with the index of 217 for March 2012. The main components of the index all fell in price with the exception of the Meat Price Index which increased by 0.9 points. The price indices of the dairy, cereals, oils and sugar sectors all fell in April. The index had risen month on month since November 2011. Prices are still much lower than the same month last year when the index was at 234.9.

Cattle, Sheep And Pigs Up On Last Year

Prime cattle slaughter numbers were up 15% on January last year to 209,000 head in January 2011. Beef and veal production were up 20%. Sheep numbers were up 5% with mutton and lamb up 10% on last year. Clean pigs slaughter numbers were up7% on January 2010 at 906,000 head. Pigmeat production was 75,000 tonnes, up 8% on last year.

Inflation Up 3.7%

The CPI for May rose by less than in April but it is still far higher than the Government target of 2%. It rose by 3.7% in April. The index was 114.4. The RPI at 223.6 rose by 5.1% down from 3.7% last month. The RPIX (RPI excluding mortgage interest payments) rose to 222.8 or by 5.1%, down from 5.4% the previous month.

The main contributory sectors to the change in the CPI were food and non-alcoholic beverages chiefly meat and in particular pork and fruit particularly grapes. Vegetables also had a small downward effect. Transport also had a downward effect as did the purchase of new cars and road passenger transport. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, recreation and culture both had large downward effects. Books had a small upward effect. Housing and household services provided the only large upward contribution.

The RPI experienced a large downward contribution from food, fruit particularly grapes and mayonnaise and meat. Motoring expenditure and the purchase of motor vehicles made downward effects. The price of alcohol rose but by less than a year ago. Small downward contributions came from leisure services in particular foreign holidays, tobacco prices rising by less than a year ago and from household services again prices rising by less than a year ago. A small upward contribution was made by household goods where there were price rises. Furniture, in particular, kitchen base units provided the upward effect partially offset by a downward effect from furnishings.

Production Down In February

The index of production fell by 0.1% in February 2010. The index of manufacturing increased by 1.4%, the mining and quarrying index fell by 7.6% and the energy supply industries index 2.6% according to the latest statistics from the ONS.

The production index increased in 8 of the 13 manufacturing sub-sectors and fell in 5 sub-sectors. The transport equipment sub-sector increased the most with an increase of 16.9% over the year within which the manufacture of motor vehicles increased 51.6% and the manufacture of aircraft and spacecraft went up 12%. Food, drink and tobacco increased by 2.8% within which meat and meat products increased by 16.3% and the processing and preservation of fish, fruit and vegetables by 16.5%. The largest contributor to the year on year increase in the manufacturing index of 1.4% was transport equipment with 1.8%. The food, drink and tobacco industries increased by 0.4%.

The mining and quarrying index fell by 7.6% in February 2010 compared with February 2009. Oil and gas extraction decreased by 8.9% and coal by 16.9%. Over the year there was an 8.1% decrease in oil and gas extraction that contributed to the 7.6% year on year decrease.

Electricity supply output decreased by 7.5% contributing to the overall 2.6% fall in output in electricity, gas and water supply. Consumer durables and capital goods reported increases of 0.6% and 6.2% respectively in February.

Defra Slaughter Statistics

The numbers of cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered in the UK were released by Defra today. Cattle slaughterings are up 2% to 163,000 head, sheep 15% lower at 773,000 and pigs were 4% higher at 704,000 in February 2010 than they were in February 2009.

The monthly volumes of meat produced UK show that 71,000 tonnes of beef, 18,000 tonnes of mutton and lamb and 58,000 tonnes of pigmeat were produced in the UK in February. These statistics refer to meat produced for human consumption in the UK but includes livestock imported into the UK for slaughter.

In addition to all the 'clean' meat slaughterings, 43,000 tonnes of meat was produced from cows and adult bulls, 4,000 tonnes from calves, 136,000 tonnes of ewe and ram meat and 18,000 tonnes of boar and sow meat was produced.

Production Figures For January

The latest Index of Production from the Office for National Statistics says that the index of production fell by 1.5% compared with last year and the index of manufacturing rose by 0.2% compared with January last year

In the manufacturing sector 4 of the 13 categories reported increases while 9 fell. The largest increases in transport, in particular the manufacture motor vehicles which increased by 38.9%, and the manufacture of aircraft and spacecraft which increased by 14.1%. Food, drink and tobacco also increased, in particular meat and meat products by 12.6%, and the processing of fish, fruit and vegetables by 11.6%.

Fresh Foods Help Keep Price Inflation Down

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) Shop Price Index (SPI) produced in collaboration with Nielsen reported annual inflation of 0.7% in June. It is down from 1.3% in May. The slowdown has continued since March. Food was the main driver with annual inflation of 5.6% from 6.4% in May. Fresh foods and particularly dairy products and some meats were largely responsible. Consumers will be seeing savings on their supermarket bills. Non-foods were up from 1.3% to 1.9%.

The month-on-month basis reported a prices increase of 0.2% in June compared with 0.5% in May. The increase in unemployment is affecting consumer confidence. Discounts and promotions are being offered at the expense of margins. Shopping conditions such as good weather help shoppers take advantage of promotional offers. The BRC maintain that the SPI is a more reliable indicator of shop price inflation than the RPI produced by the ONS.

Shop Price Index Down

The British Retail Consortium's Shop Price Index year-on-year index fell from 2.0% in March to 1.4% in April. It is the first time it has fallen since December 2008 when there was a cut in VAT. The month-to-month index fell by 0.5%. Non-food goods are cheaper than a month ago because of discounting. Food is also cheaper this month signalling a possible end to the worst of food price inflation. Retailers’ attempts to keep shopping bills down are being prevented by rising farm gate prices for meat and vegetables.