Food prices rise in July as heatwaves, wars lift costs and weigh on crop yields, FAO says

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 07 (APP): World food prices rose in July as heatwaves and supply disruptions in the Middle East and Black Sea regions pushed up prices and lowered crop yields, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

According to new FAO data published on Friday, 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 Nino-related weather conditions…in key producing countries in Asia”, the FAO Food Price Index update 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.

And 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 military operations in Ukraine, coupled with the expected impact of recent heatwaves on crop yields in several countries.

World maize prices rose 3.6 per cent, fuelled 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 a full two per cent, linked to demand from Indonesia’s biodiesel sector and higher crude oil prices.

And although soy oil became more expensive on the back of robust feedstock demand from the United States, global sunflower and rapeseed oil prices lowered.