Global food prices dropped 1.5 percent in November, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) said on Thursday.
The FAO's Food Price Index, a monthly measure of changes in a basket of food commodities, moved down three points to 211 points in November, the lowest since June 2012.
“Except for dairy, international prices of all the commodity groups included in the index fell in November, with sugar undergoing the sharpest dip, followed by oils and cereals,” the FAO said in a statement.
The index's November value was three percent below where it was at the same time last year.
Firmer production estimates for 2012 confirmed the tightening of wheat and maize supplies, while the outlook for rice remained positive.
Despite a contraction in overall use of cereal in 2012/2013, the world cereal stock-to-use ratio was projected to decline by two percentage points from last season.
Prospects for the northern hemisphere's winter wheat crop harvest in 2013 were mixed, with growing conditions within the European Union generally favourable.
However, dry weather was negatively affecting emergence and crop establishment in key production areas of the United States and the Russian Federation. -Sapa