– World food prices rose in July to their highest in more than three years as adverse weather and war escalation in the Gulf and Black Sea supported crop markets, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in a basket of internationally traded food commodities, averaged 131.1 points in July, up from 130.3 in June and the highest reading since January 2023.

The FAO’s chief economist told Reuters this ⁠week that the world faces another bout of food inflation as wars in Iran and Ukraine along with El Nino create a perfect storm of higher costs and lower crop yields.

A 3.4% month-on-month rise in the FAO’s cereal price index drove the July trend, fuelled in turn by a 5.8% jump in wheat prices, the agency said.

Wheat markets were affected by concerns over Black Sea export disruptions and heat damage to crops in key producing regions, it said.

The FAO’s vegetable oil ⁠index rose 2% to its highest level since June 2022.

Higher crude oil prices amid escalation in the Iran war and strong demand for biodiesel supported palm and soy oil prices, though rapeseed and sunflower oil declined.

Sugar prices rose 5.6% on weather concerns ⁠in Europe and Asia and expectations of stronger ethanol demand in Brazil.

In contrast, meat prices fell 2.8% from a record high in June, FAO said.

Poultry, pig and bovine meat ⁠prices declined, though sheep meat prices reached a record high amid tight export supplies in Oceania. Dairy prices fell 0.7%.

The FAO’s overall food price index ⁠reading for July was slightly above a previous three-year high in April.

The latest reading was nonetheless 18.2% below its March 2022 peak that followed Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

 The All Pakistan Goods Transport Alliance has announced an indefinite strike across the country from August 8 over rising fuel prices, the daily pricing mechanism for petroleum products and the imposition of a 7% withholding tax on the transport sector.

President of the All Pakistan Goods Transport Alliance Malik Shahzad Awan confirmed the indefinite strike, saying the federal government has summoned the transport alliance for a meeting on Monday.

Malik Shahzad Awan said a committee has been formed to represent the transport alliance in talks with the government. He added that the strike would continue until the government meeting concludes and the alliance announces its future course of action.

He said negotiations between the goods transport alliance and the authorities at the commissioner’s office had failed.

The alliance is protesting against increases in petrol and diesel prices, the daily determination of petroleum product prices and the imposition of a 7% withholding tax on the transport sector.

Meanwhile, President of the All Pakistan Goods Transporters Owners Association Owais Chaudhry demanded that 10-wheeler vehicles be allowed to carry up to 35 tonnes of weight and called for immediate relief in diesel prices and toll taxes.

He also called for changes to laws concerning allegedly unjustified challans, heavy fines and vehicle confiscation.

Owais Chaudhry further demanded a reduction in withholding tax and the issuance of heavy vehicle driving licences to drivers.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index dropped 346 points during the week’s last trading session on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) due to cautious trading by investors.

The index ended the session down 346 points, closing at 181,430 points.

The index showed ongoing market volatility during the trading session, reaching an intraday high of 181,647 points and a low of 180,620 points.

563 firms’ shares were traded during the session. Of these, 207 firms saw increases, 260 saw decreases, and the rest companies’ share prices remained steady.

Around 710 million shares worth Rs34 billion were traded at the exchange, demonstrating the continued high level of trading activity.