FAO: Global Meat and Dairy Prices Fell in October as Sugar Kept Climbing
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's food price index slipped to 133.9 points in October as cereal, dairy and meat prices eased. Sugar prices rose for a fourth month in a row.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released its latest world food commodity price data on Friday, November 6. The FAO Food Price Index, the benchmark gauge of global food commodity prices, averaged 133.9 points in October. That is 1.6 points, or 1.2%, below the revised September figure.
According to the FAO, lower prices across most commodity groups more than offset a sharp rise in sugar and a marginal increase in vegetable oils. The index is 5.9% higher than a year earlier but remains 16.4% below its March 2022 peak.
Cereals
The cereal price index fell 4.5%. Wheat prices dropped after four consecutive monthly increases, reflecting subdued international demand and a better production outlook, particularly in Argentina. Expectations that Black Sea export constraints will ease added pressure, though continued logistical disruption in the region limited the decline. Maize prices also weakened after reaching a three-year high in September, weighed down by harvest pressure in the United States and expected ample supplies from South American exporters. Rice prices moved the other way, rising 1.6% as harvest delays in some exporting countries, adverse weather and higher costs pushed them up.
The FAO's cereal supply and demand brief projects that global cereal output in 2026 will fall back from the 2025 record but stay at the second-highest level on record, at 2,999 million tonnes. Rice production is forecast to contract for the first time in four seasons, by 2.5% to 552 million tonnes, largely because of poor producer margins and El Niño-related adverse weather.
Meat, dairy and sugar
The meat price index declined 1.2% from September but remains slightly higher than a year ago. Pig, ovine and bovine meat prices fell, while poultry prices were broadly stable. The dairy index lost 1.1% as butter and cheese quotations dropped amid ample supplies and weak buying interest, while milk powder prices continued to rise.
The sugar price index climbed 6.6%, its fourth monthly increase, reaching the highest level since December 2024 and standing 28.8% above a year earlier. The FAO attributed the rise mainly to rain-related disruption of sugarcane harvesting and crushing in Brazil's Centre-South region. Concerns about 2026/27 production prospects in India, the EU and Thailand added further support.
