World watches US corn market

Milan: World food prices held steady in April but longer-term stability depended on new crops as worries linger over US grains, although Russia and Ukraine are set to recover from drought, the UN’s food agency said.

Rising food prices have become hugely sensitive around the world after fuelling protests that toppled the rulers of Tunisia and Egypt earlier this year, with unrest spreading across North Africa and the Middle East.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation’s senior economist and grain analyst Abdolreza Abbassian said the world faced a precarious situation, even as food prices paused in April in the wake of a record breaking run.