AMIS > Indicators > Prices and price volatility

About AMIS indicators

AMIS promotes a better understanding of developments in global food markets. A central task in this regard is to monitor market and policy drivers that impact on global food prices and their volatility.

What do the FAO Price Indices measure?

The FAO Food Price Index consists of the average of five commodity group price indices weighted with the average export shares of each of the groups (for 2014-2016). It is composed of 95 commodity quotations and updated monthly.

The Cereals Price Index combines the relative prices of sorghum; the IGC wheat, maize and barley price indices (re-based to 2014-2016); and the FAO All Rice Price Index by weighing each commodity with its average export trade share for 2014-2016.

The Sugar Price Index is an index form of the International Sugar Agreement prices with 2014-2016 as a base.

The Vegetable Oils Price Index consists of an average of 10 different vegetable oils weighted with average export trade shares of each oil for 2014-2016.

The Dairy Price Index is computed using eight price quotations of four dairy products (butter, skim and whole milk powder, cheese) from two representative markets. The products are weighted by world average export trade shares for 2014-2016.

The Meat Price Index is computed from average prices of four types of meat, weighted by world average export trade shares for 2014-2016. Quotations include two poultry products, three bovine meat products, three pig meat products, and one bovine meat product.

What do the IGC Price Indices measure?

The daily IGC Grains and Oilseeds Index is comprised of the AMIS commodities plus barley, sorghum, and rapeseed/canola. With January 2000 taken as its base, component weightings are based on their five-year average share of the total trade of all commodities considered. The sub-indices for wheat, maize, rice and soybeans are based on daily price quotations from several official and trade sources.

Prices and price volatility

Providing information on international commodity prices is key to AMIS’s mission of monitoring global food markets. International commodity prices might indicate changes in supply and demand in major producing and consuming countries, or signal policy actions, such as a tightening of trade measures or changes in governmental purchase and stocking regimes, which have proved to be important drivers of food prices and food price volatility at global level.

 

FAO Price Indices

To compare the FAO Food Price Indices year by year click here
 

IGC Price Indices

To view individual IGC Price Indices click here