KEY MESSAGES:

• International cereal prices mostly declined in October 2023. Wheat prices decreased, influenced by low and falling prices from the Russian Federation. International rice prices dropped by 2 percent month‑on‑month in October, affected by generally passive global import demand. By contrast, those of coarse grains firmed as price increases in Argentina outweighed the lower prices in Brazil.

• In most countries monitored by FAO, domestic staple food prices were in October 2023 at higher levels year on year, mostly due to rising production and distribution costs. A variety of policy measures have been introduced or extended by some countries with the aim to ease the upward pressure on prices and ensure better accessibility to key staple food commodities in local markets.