FAO announces lower prices for dairy products

This is reported by The DairyNews.

Despite the fact that the decline in the value of this index continues for the fourth consecutive month, it is still 41% higher than its minimum level reached in April 2016.

Over the past month, international quotes of butter and cheese have declined, and prices for milk powder have risen, analysts at FAO emphasize. They also say that the excessive supply of milk in the northern hemisphere and in Australia has become one of the factors that largely influenced international prices for dairy products, including butter and cheese. At the same time, prices for whole milk powder increased due to the expected larger-scale seasonal decline in the production of milk in New Zealand. Prices for skimmed milk powder also increased, mainly as a result of active import demand.

In general, in January 2018, the average value of the FAO Food Price Index was 169.5 points, practically unchanged from the level of December 2017, while it was almost 3% lower than the corresponding indicator of the previous year.

Prices for cereals and vegetable oils slightly strengthened in January, while the cost of dairy products and sugar as a whole declined, while meat quotes remained unchanged, experts at the FAO say.