MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - The cost of key foods edged up last month as searing heatwaves and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty impacted energy prices around the world.
According to new data published from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, a basket of staple foods cost one per cent more in July than a year ago.
Commodities registering standout price surges included sugar - up 5.6 per cent in July - owing mainly to 'concerns about the potential impacts of persistent hot and dry weather on crop yields in the European Union and of El Niño-related weather conditions.in key producing countries in Asia,' the FAO Food Prices Index said.
Cereals increased by 3.4 per cent from June, reversing the declines seen earlier in the year, to settle 6.9 per cent above their July 2025 level.
Although rice prices held steady last month, global wheat prices increased 5.8 per cent, amid 'continued disruptions' to Black Sea exports caused by the ongoing Russian attacks of Ukraine, coupled with the expected impact of recent heatwaves on crop yields in several countries.
World maize prices rose 3.6 per cent, fueled by concerns over hot and dry weather in parts of the United States, along with 'spillover effects from firmer energy markets amid heightened geopolitical tensions,' FAO said.
The vegetable oil price index reached its highest price since June 2022, increasing by two per cent, linked to demand from Indonesia's biodiesel sector and higher crude oil prices.
While soy oil became more expensive on the back of robust feedstock demand from the United States, global sunflower and rapeseed oil prices dropped, the data shows.
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