YEREVAN, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations released an updated FAO Food Price Index, which rose in May for the fourth month in a row, increasing by 2.1 percent from April to 155.8 points - still some 7 percent below the level reported one year ago.

Prices rose across the index - a trade-weighted index tracking international market prices for the cereals, vegetable oils, dairy, meat and sugar commodity groups - with the exception of vegetable oils, which subsided after a strong hike in April.

The FAO Sugar Price Index led the increase, surging 11.7 percent from the previous month, as deteriorating production prospects in India, the world's number two sugar producer, outweighed a bumper crop and large export availabilities in Brazil, the leading producer.

The FAO Cereal Price Index rose 1.6 percent from April, led by a sharp increase in maize prices and buoyed by stronger quotations for Indica and aromatic rice varieties.

The FAO Meat Price Index rose 2 percent, spurred by brisk import demand from Asia for pigmeat from the European Union.

The FAO Dairy Price Index, which is 24 percent below its level of a year-ago, also eked out a 0.4 percent increase thanks to improved prices in the EU and sustained international demand for whole milk powder and butter.

The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index declined 1.8 percent, as palm oil receded after three months of sharp gains. Import demand for the food industry mainstay was weaker than anticipated in China, India and the EU.

FAO raised its world cereal production forecast for 2016 to 2 543 million tonnes, just 0.7 percent below the record high of 2014.

The new production figure in the updated Cereal Supply and Demand Brief is 17 million tonnes higher than reported in May, reflecting upward revisions for wheat and maize in major producing countries.

World cereal utilization, meanwhile, is expected to be 2 546 million tonnes for the marketing year, a slight markdown from the May projection.

At the same time, the forecast for global cereal stocks was raised to 642 million tonnes - less than two million tonnes below their all-time high, driven by a historical revision to China's wheat inventory.

Global trade in cereals is predicted to decline by 1.9 percent from the previous year to 369 million tonnes. The contraction "is likely to intensify competition for market share among major exporters, a prospect that could keep international prices in check," FAO said.