Title: World food prices tumble near 7-year low
Headings: World food prices tumble near 7-year low
World food prices tumble near 7-year low
Mixed harvests

Content: As a result of the upgraded production and downgraded consumption forecasts, world cereal stocks are set to end the 2016 seasons at 642 million tons, higher than they began,” the agency noted. Mixed harvests
Looking ahead to commodity prices in 2016, the FAO said that there were mixed early prospects for 2016 harvests with potential disruption from erratic weather systems. In particular, the weather pattern known as El Niño was “sending mixed signals about the early prospects for cereal crops in 2016, especially in the Southern Hemisphere.” 2016 crop prospects have been “severely weakened” in Southern Africa, and a 25 percent cut in wheat production in South Africa now appears likely, the FAO said. Conditions for the crop are generally favorable in the Russian Federation and the European Union, but winter plantings declined in the United States and Ukraine. The area under wheat is also expected to be cut in India, following a poor monsoon and below average rains since October. The 2016 outlook for rice along and south of the Equator is “dim” due, at times, to insufficient water and, at others, to excessive rains, the FAO noted, showing how hard it will be for farmers to get a perfect balance. - By CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt, follow her on Twitter @HollyEllyatt. Follow CNBC Internationalon Twitter and Facebook. Related Tags
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