Before you read
Subject: ROME, Oct.6 (Xinhua) -- The Food Price Index climbed 2.9 percent in September from August, mainly driven by a surge in dairy products prices,…
Excerpt: English text from the archived bilingual edition · Chinese edition
Reference text and retained source material
ROME, Oct.6 (Xinhua) -- The Food Price Index climbed 2.9 percent in September from August, mainly driven by a surge in dairy products prices, according to data released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Thursday
Prices for grains and cereals, the largest component in the index, fell 1.9 percent, due to good rice harvests in Asia. But that was not enough to offset gains in other sectors
The biggest increase came from dairy products, which saw prices jump 13.8 percent due to low milk output in Europe
Sugar prices also went up, rising 6.7 percent because of bad weather in Brazil, the world’s leading sugar producer
Prices for fats and oils, meanwhile, rose by 2.9 percent, and meat prices were flat
With the increase in September, the overall index is now 10 percent higher than it was a year ago
The index has now climbed in seven of the last eight months, after nearly two years of steady declines
Notwithstanding the recent increase in prices, FAO’s Food Outlook report predicted prices would remain "well balanced" over the next year, with agriculture production expected to be even
The next installment of the FAO index, which is based on a basket of 55 goods and 73 price quotations in five major food commodity groups, will be released on November 10
Language and reading: using this material
Compare wording, tone and information order across complete passages. Positions, prices, policies, exams and statistics retain their original context and should be verified before practical use.
