PARIS, France: A spike in vegetable oil costs helped steady global food prices in March, offsetting declines in other staples like cereals and sugar, according to the latest update from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The FAO reported this week that its Food Price Index benchmark averaged 127.1 points in March, a slight increase from the revised 126.8 points recorded in February. While the index is still 20.7 percent below its peak in March 2022—shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine—it remains 6.9 percent higher than it was at the same period last year.

A key driver of the monthly increase was a surge in vegetable oil prices.

FAO's price index for vegetable oils "increased by 3.7 percent from February, with quotations for palm, soy, rapeseed and sunflower oils all rising on the back of strong import demand," the agency said. The index is now up 23.9 percent year-on-year.

In contrast, cereals experienced a decline of 2.6 percent from the previous month and are now down 1.1 percent compared to the same period last year.

"Wheat prices fell, as concerns over crop conditions in some major Northern Hemisphere exporting countries eased," FAO said. Prices for maize and sorghum also dipped, while barley saw a slight uptick.

FAO also noted that "all-rice index fell 1.7 percent from the prior month amid weak import demand and ample export supply."

Sugar prices declined by 1.6 percent, primarily due to softened global demand and seasonal rainfall in southern Brazil. However, FAO said losses were kept in check by production concerns in both Brazil and India.

In the meat category, prices rose slightly—by 0.9 percent—primarily due to an uptick in European pig meat prices. FAO cited "higher pig meat prices in Europe after Germany regained food-and-mouth-disease-free status."

Poultry prices held steady despite avian flu outbreaks in some key producing countries. The dairy price index was unchanged from February.

In a separate report, FAO raised its estimate for global cereal production in 2024 slightly, from 2.842 billion metric tons to 2.849 billion. The agency maintained its forecast for 2025 world wheat production at 795 million tons, in line with last year's output.