World food prices shot up 4.2 percent in June, the sharpest monthly increase of the past four years, the Rome-based United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Thursday.
The overall index is 1 percent below the level reached a year earlier. The June rise, which affected all commodity categories except vegetable oils, was the fifth consecutive monthly increase.
A strengthening of maize prices contributed to the increase of cereal prices, up 2.9 percent from May, but still 3.9 percent below the June 2015 level.
Sugar prices rose 14.8 percent from May, as Brazil, the world's largest sugar producer and exporter, endured heavy rains that hindered harvesting and dented yields.
Demand for all categories of meat continued to rise, pushing prices for meat 2.4 percent higher than its revised May value.
Vegetable oil prices defied the trend, declining 0.8 percent from its May level.
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 August 4.
