FAO world food price index stabilises in October

Reuters
A view of the supermarket section of Nakumatt's shopping hall in an upper-market area of Nairobi January 5, 2011. REUTERS/Noor Khamis

ROME (Reuters) - World food prices edged marginally lower in October, stabilising after a series of sharp declines, as prices of oils and sugar firmed while dairy and meat prices retreated, the UN's food agency said on Thursday. The Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) price index, which measures monthly price changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 192.3 points in October, down 0.2 percent from September. The figure was 14.3 points or 6.9 percent below October 2013. FAO slightly lowered its forecast for world cereals output in 2014 to 2.522 billion tonnes, versus a previous forecast of 2.523 billion tonnes. The agency's world cereals stocks forecast for the end-2015 season also came in slightly lower at 624.7 million tonnes, versus 627.5 million tonnes previously predicted. But FAO said world wheat output is likely to be a little higher than it had expected previously. The agency raised its forecast to 722.6 million tonnes from 718.5 million tonnes. (Reporting by Isla Binnie; editing by James Mackenzie)