The FAO Food Price Index, which measures changes in a basket of globally traded food commodities, averaged 130.8 points in May, 0.2% down from its revised April level of 131.0, but up 2.9% from a year earlier

International News via Reuters:

World food prices slipped in May from a revised April level, with vegetable oil prices falling for the first time this year while cereals and sugar jumped, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday.

The FAO Food Price Index, which measures changes in a basket of globally traded food commodities, averaged 130.8 points in May, 0.2% down from its revised April level of 131.0, but up 2.9% from a year earlier.

Despite the small downward correction for the April data, the index remained near its highest level since January 2023 and 18.4% below its March 2022 peak.

Cereal prices rose more than 2.6% on the month, with wheat up for a fourth straight month on smaller export harvest prospects, including in the United States, and higher fuel and fertiliser costs linked to the Iran conflict.

Maize prices were also supported by stronger import demand and tighter supplies in Brazil and the U.S., the agency said.

By contrast, vegetable oil prices fell 4.6% from last month, their first monthly decline this year, as lower palm and soy oil prices outweighed gains in rapeseed and sunflower oil.  After rising for five consecutive months, international palm oil prices declined, reflecting expectations of weaker global import demand and uncertainty in crude oil markets.

Vegetable oil prices on average were still more than 20% above last year, as elevated energy costs following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz raised demand for biofuels made using organic materials, such as oil-rich plants.

Sugar prices jumped 7.5% from last month to 95.1 points, but remained 13.1% below their level a year ago. The increase was mainly driven by concerns over an anticipated tightening of global sugar supplies in the coming months.

In a separate cereal supply report, the FAO said it expected world cereal production – including rice in milled equivalent – to shrink 2% in 2026/27 to 2.98 billion tons. 

Production of all major cereals is anticipated to decline, albeit for many from record levels reached in 2025, with the largest year-on-year decrease in percentage terms forecast for wheat and the smallest for maize and barley.

Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise

Police used tear gas against protesters in the city centre, which was strewn with debris and vandalised bicycles and street signs

International News via Reuters:

Clashes broke out between protesters and police in Brussels on Thursday, as a demonstration against planned reforms to part of Belgium’s education sector turned violent.

Police used tear gas against protesters in the city centre, which was strewn with debris and vandalised bicycles and street signs. Some windows had been smashed. Brussels police advised people to avoid the area around the city’s main railway station.

Belgian media also reported protests in other French-speaking cities, including Namur and Charleroi, though they were mostly calmer than those in Brussels.

Belgium’s French Community government, which oversees French-language education, plans to increase annual tuition fees for higher education to €1,194 ($1,280) from €835 for the majority of students.

Although still low by international standards, it represents a 35% increase, which the government says is part of a cost-cutting drive and brings fees broadly into line with those in Flemish, Dutch-speaking universities.

Other proposed measures include requiring teachers with pupils in the final years of secondary school to take on two extra classroom hours per week without additional pay, and revising tenure rules.

“We will have to work more for the same wages, and working conditions will deteriorate, with more people having larger classes”, one teacher attending the protest who gave her name only as Marie told Belgian broadcaster VRTNWS.

At a press briefing on Thursday, French Community government leader Elisabeth Degryse defended the fee increase in the face of strained public finances, adding that the government was heading for a 1.9 billion euro deficit.

“Our aim with these measures is to free up money to re-invest in the sector”, Education Minister Valerie Glatigny.

The parliament of the French Community is expected to vote on the proposed cost-cutting measures later on Thursday.

($1 = 0.8593 euros)

Reporting by Bart Biesemans and Yiming Woo, Writing by Sudip-Kar Gupta and Charlotte Van Campenhotu; editing by Barbara Lewis and Gareth Jones

The European Commission, the bloc’s competition enforcer, stopped the clock on the probe on May 26

International News via Reuters:

EU antitrust regulators have paused their review of a proposed €1.42 billion ($1.65 billion) paper joint venture between Finland’s UPM-Kymmene and South African-listed Sappi, pending information from the companies.

The European Commission, the bloc’s competition enforcer, stopped the clock on the probe on May 26.

“The ‘clock’ in merger investigations can be suspended if the parties fail to provide, in a timely fashion, an important piece of information that the Commission has requested from them (for its competition assessment) within a prescribed deadline,” a Commission spokesperson said.

The review will resume once the information is submitted, with a new deadline for a decision. The previous deadline was October 26.

In April, the Commission flagged concerns the deal could reduce competition and push up prices, noting both companies are major suppliers of coated mechanical paper (CM) and wood-free coated (WFC) paper in Europe.

($1 = 0.8598 euros)

Reporting by Foo Yun Chee. Editing by Mark Potter