World food prices drop again in December, 2015 levels 19 pct below 2014: FAO

World food prices fell again in December, 2015, dropping 1 percent compared to the previous month and assuring that with 2015 food commodities fell for the fourth consecutive year, the Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported Thursday.

The main component in the FAO's index, grains and cereals, saw prices fall 1.3 percent driven by competition pushing wheat and corn prices lower. Rice prices were mostly stable compared to November.

Prices for dairy produces fell 1 percent, with meat prices dropping 2.2 percent due to surging pork production in Europe and a drop in demand for imported beef from the United States.

Those drops were partially offset by a 2.1 percent increase in prices for oils and fats, and a 0.6 percent rise for sugar prices.

The index was 19.1 percent lower at the end of 2015 than it was a year earlier, FAO said. Over the course of the year, prices fell in 10 of 12 months.

Every commodity group saw prices fall in 2015: grains and cereals were 15.4 percent lower for the year, dairy product prices fell 28.5 percent, mean cost 15.1 percent less for the year, oils and fats 19 percent lower, and sugar prices slipped 21 percent for the year.

"Abundant supplies in the face of timid world demand and an appreciating U.S. dollar are the main reasons for the general weakness that dominated food prices," Abdolreza Abbassian, an FAO senior economist, said in a statement.

The next installment of the FAO index, which is based on a basket of 55 goods and 73 price quotations in five major food commodity groups, will be released on Feb.4. Endit