ISLAMABAD: Despite a minimal reduction in global production, the world food import bill is about to reach a five-year low in 2015, pushing international prices for agricultural commodities down even further, the Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in its forecast.
According to FAO's biannual Food Outlook report, given large supplies, low freight rates, a strong US dollar and changes in the volume of food import, international food prices continued declining during April, and are likely to stay as such for the next season, Iran daily reported.
The report estimated that cereal production for 2015, which is five percent above the average of the past five years, may decline by 1.5 percent from last year's recorded production around 2,500 billion tons.
Nonetheless, negative effects on food consumption will be balanced by the presence of large quantities of cereal stockpiles.
Broadly speaking, the decline of food prices should benefit food importing countries and likely lower income ones, but it may have impacts on certain sectors, such as commodity farmers, said an FAO spokesperson.
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