Global food prices rise in October after five months of falls

Global food prices rose slightly in October after declining for the past five months, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday, forecasting more stability in markets as it raised its estimate for 2013/14 cereals output. The rise in prices last month was fuelled by sugar costs, which increased due to concerns about harvest delays in Brazil.
Prices of wheat and edible oils also strengthened, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said. "Prices are settling around these levels," FAO senior economist Abdolreza Abbassian told Reuters by telephone.