GLOBAL food prices rose to their highest level in nearly four years in September as disruptions to shipping routes and weather concerns drove up cereal, sugar and vegetable oil prices, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in international prices for a basket of food commodities, averaged 136.0 points last month, up from a revised 134.0 in August and the highest reading since November 2022.
FAO said cereal, sugar and vegetable oil prices all increased in September, although meat and dairy quotations declined.
The rise came as fears over a severe El Nino weather pattern pushed international sugar prices to an 18-month high, while war-related disruption to Black Sea trade sent wheat futures to a three-year peak early last month.
“We are seeing a persistent and increasingly broad-based build up in global commodity prices, as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the Black Sea combine with climate shocks, putting pressure on energy, transport and key food commodities,” FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero said.
“If sustained, these pressures will soon pass through to consumer food prices, especially in food and energy import-dependent countries,” he said in a statement.
The warning comes as shipping disruptions in key trade corridors raise concerns over transport and energy costs, adding to pressures across global commodity markets.
In a separate report, FAO kept its forecast for global cereal production in 2026 almost unchanged at 2.979 billion metric tonnes.
The forecast is 2.1% below last year's record harvest but would still make 2026 the second-largest cereal crop on record.
FAO, however, cut its forecast for global cereal trade in the 2026/27 season by 0.7% from September, citing lower expectations for wheat and maize exports, largely because of constrained shipping routes in the Black Sea. - October 2, 2026
