Key messages
The benchmark US wheat price declined in October mostly because of higher supply prospects while maize quotations firmed due to rain-induced harvest delays. International rice prices strengthened in October, mainly reflecting seasonally tight Japonica and fragrant supplies.
In East and West Africa, cereal prices declined in October with the 2017 ongoing or recently-started harvests. However, concerns over crop outputs and civil insecurity kept prices at high levels in some countries, particularly in Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Sudan.
In Central America, heavy rains in October led to unseasonal increases in maize and bean prices. They remained, however, at levels well below those a year earlier as a result of adequate domestic supplies, following the overall good outputs in 2016 and the 2017 first season harvests.