Global food prices held steady in February, FAO food index shows

"Global food prices held steady in February as falling wheat prices offset higher oils and dairy prices, the United Nations' food agency said on Thursday, forecasting increased wheat output in 2013," Reuters reports, noting, "The FAO Food Price Index, which measures monthly price changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 210 points in February, unchanged from January." According to the news service, "The Rome-based agency forecast world wheat production in 2013 at 690 million tons, up 4.3 percent from the 2012 harvest and the second largest crop on record after that of 2011" and "also raised its estimate of world cereal output in 2012 by four million tons to 2.306 billion tons" (3/7).