World food prices rise slightly in April - FAO

World food prices rose slightly in April, as gains in vegetable oil and cereals prices more than offset declines in dairy and sugar prices, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.

The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 151.8 points in April against a revised 149.5 points the month before.

The small increase in April is the third month of gradual rises on the index after four consecutive annual declines.

FAO forecast world cereals output in 2016-17 would be 2.526 billion tonnes, almost unchanged from the previous year and fractionally above the forecast it gave the previous month.

World wheat output is due to hit 716.9 million tonnes in 2016-17, FAO said, raising its previous forecast.

Food prices on international markets in April were almost 10% lower than a year ago, FAO said.