FAO: Global Food Prices Rise Annually with Monthly Decline in June

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced on Friday a 2.2 percent year-on-year rise in global food prices in June, despite a slight monthly decline of 0.3 percent compared to the previous May. The organization clarified in its statement that this annual increase in the global food commodity price index is attributed to rising energy costs and disruptions from the conflict in the Middle East, despite an agreement reached to end the fighting. Boubaker Ben-Belhassen, Director of FAO's Markets and Trade Division, was cited in the statement as indicating that individual commodity markets respond variably to evolving factors, despite a slight monthly decline in the overall international food commodity price index in June. He stressed that transparent markets, timely information, and predictable global trade remain crucial for bolstering food security and the resilience of agricultural and food systems amid a world of increasing uncertainty. Despite signs of recovery in international markets, several countries continue to report high inflation rates, attributed to the ongoing repercussions of the US-Israeli conflict on Iran. Iran and the United States had reached a memorandum of understanding on June 18 to halt fighting, lift the US naval blockade on Iran, and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait's previous closure had caused significant increases in oil and gas prices and inflation rates.