Global food prices rise for second month in February: FAO

NEW DELHI: Global food prices rose for the second consecutive month in February, driven by high prices of sugar, oils and cereals, United Nation's body Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said.

"International food prices rose by 1 per cent in February, the second increase in two months mainly due to higher prices of sugar, oils and cereals while dairy prices fell slightly after a marked rise in January," FAO said in a statement.

FAO's Food Price Index (FPI) averaged 215 points last month, 2.4 points more than the revised January figure.

FPI is a monthly measure of the change in international prices of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar.

FAO pointed out that rise in imports and unfavourable weather is supporting prices.

"Increased imports due to a weaker US Dollar and plunging freight rates have also characterised world markets since the beginning of 2012. This combined with unfavourable weather conditions in major exporting countries has supported world prices in recent weeks," it said.

According to the global body on farm sector, poor weather currently affecting key growing regions like South America and Europe remains a cause for concern.

The firming up of global cereal prices in recent weeks is due to tightening current wheat supplies and concerns over the impact of severe cold weather in Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), it added.