FAO: world prices of vegetable oils fell in February

World vegetable oil prices decreased 1.3% in February compared to the previous month and are 11% below their level a year ago. This is clear from the food price index, prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The decline mainly reflected the decline in global prices for soybean, sunflower and rapeseed oils, which more than offset the slight rise in palm oil prices, the organization indicates. Specifically, international soybean oil prices fell sharply in February, "mainly due to the prospects for abundant soybean production in South America amid generally favorable crop conditions." For their part, world prices for sunflower and rapeseed oils decreased as a result of persistent ample exportable availabilities on a global scale. On the contrary, palm oil prices rose slightly in February, in a context of seasonal decline in production in the main producing countries of Southeast Asia. Food prices The food price index produced by the Food and ...