Food outlook 2010

International prices of key food staples have dropped during the first five months of 2010 according to the latest edition of FAO's biannual Food Outlook report. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 164 points in May 2010, down from 174 points in January and substantially less than its peak of 214 in the spring of 2008, the report notes. A fall in international prices of cereals and sugar were among the main drivers behind this decline. Sugar prices have tumbled by half from their peak at the beginning of the year under prospects of significant production increases. But, the agency noted, this still means the cost of the typical food commodity basket around the world today is some 69 percent higher than in 2002-04. Most indicators point to increasing world supplies, a leading factor behind the sharp declines in international prices of major food staples this year, according to the report. The 2008-2009 food prices boom spurred plantings and production of many crops, which has resulted in a recovery in inventories and boosting stocks-to-use ratios, a tendency likely to prevail also in 2010/11.