This policy brief provides an overview of the trends in agricultural trade, and the implications for food security, based on Chapter 1 of the State of Commodity Markets (SOCO) 2016.

This brief is in continuation of the "Trade Policy Briefs" (link: http://www.fao.org/economic/est/publications/trade-policy-briefs/en/ ) of which the last issue was No.16.

International wheat prices rose in June but remained below last year’s level on account of good supply prospects. Maize prices increased as a result of fast shrinking export supplies in South America and in the Black Sea region. Tight availabilities continued to lend support to rice quotations in most Asian origins, but gains were contained by subdued demand. In Africa, cereal prices rose sharply in South Sudan underpinned by high...

In December 2013, agreement was reached on a small number of issues under negotiation in the long-running Doha Round of WTO Negotiations. The set of issues, broadly known as the Bali package after the location of the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference during which the agreement was reached, comprised three main components, one of which related to the use of public procurement for food stockholding which can be used by...

International wheat prices remained below their levels of May last year, while those of maize continued to rise and exceeded their year‑earlier levels, supported by strong import demand and concerns about crop conditions in South America. Rice prices rebounded in May. In Asia, shortfalls in 2015 secondary crop outputs, due to adverse weather, continued to put upward pressure on domestic prices of rice in exporting countries, particularly in Thailand, where prices...

Global cereal production prospects continue to improve although latest forecasts indicate that world cereal output in 2016 would still fall slightly short of the projected demand in 2016/17. COUNTRIES IN NEED OF EXTERNAL ASSISTANCE: FAO estimates that 37 countries, including 28 in Africa, are in need of external assistance for food. Persisting conflicts, acutely undermining agricultural capacities and drought‑induced production declines, frequently linked to the now dissipating El Niño, are...