DHAKA: World food prices were up in September, driven largely by the rising cost of sugar, the UN’s food agency says.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) food price index found prices had increased by 10% year on year and 2.9% on August.

However, it stressed prices remained “relatively low” and the outlook for the global food market was “stable”.

“A lot of the September increase has to do with sugar,” said FAO senior economist Abdolreza Abbassian, reports the BBC.

The FAO’s index measures the monthly changes in price of a basket of commodities, including meat, dairy products, cereals, vegetable oils and sugar.

It averaged 170.9 points in September, up 2.9% on August and representing the highest value since March 2015.

Sugar surged 6.7% between August and September, it said, largely because of unfavorable weather conditions in Brazil, the world’s largest producer and exporter.

Meat, dairy and vegetable oil prices also increased, but cereal prices declined slightly.

BDST: 2003 HRS, OCT 06, 2016
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