Page 149 - Food Outlook

milk powder (SMP) and whole milk powder (WMP) eased in October, while those of cheese remained more stable. Butter and WMP prices fell as importers held back on purchases, awaiting arrival of new supplies from Oceania. Low demand and ample intervention stocks in the EU hastened the decline of SMP prices. A balanced cheese market contributed to more stable cheese quotations.
The FAO Meat Price Index4 averaged 172.7 points in October, down 1.6 points (0.9 percent) from September and continuing a trend of moderate declines that began in July this year. International prices of pig and ovine meat declined in October, while those of bovine meat increased and of poultry were stable. Intense competition among exporters and sluggish import demand have been behind the declines in pigmeat prices observed in recent months.
However, bovine meat prices rose for the third consecutive month due to limited spot offers from Oceania. A seasonal increase in ovine meat supplies in Oceania pushed down ovine prices, while poultry meat markets remained well balanced.
The FAO Sugar Price Index averaged nearly 203 points
in October, down 1.4 points (0.7 percent) from September and as much as 112 points, or 36 percent, below the corresponding month last year. Sugar prices fell in October as the potential for higher supplies in 2017/18 was further reinforced with prospects for a larger beet crop in the EU and bigger output in the Russian Federation. Weaker Brazilian Real, increasing the potential for larger export sales from Brazil, also weighed on international prices, especially in view of a significant slowdown in purchases by China because of higher import tariffs.
4 Unlike for other commodity groups, most prices utilized in the calculation of the FAO Meat Price Index are not available when the FAO Food Price Index is computed and published; therefore, the value of the Meat Price Index for the most recent months is derived from a mixture of projected and observed prices. This can, at times, require significant revisions in the final value of the FAO Meat Price Index which could in turn influence the value of the FAO Food Price Index.
FOOD OUTLOOK NOVEMBER 2017
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Market indicators