ROME, ITALY — A month-on-month decline in international grain prices across the board pushed the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations’ Cereal Price Index for February down 6.1 points, or 0.7%, from its revised January level to 113.8 points, a drop of 10.5% from a year ago.

The report, which was released March 8, noted corn export prices dropped the most as expectations of large harvests in Argentina and Brazil, along with competitive prices offered by Ukraine eager to take advantage of the smooth running of the maritime trade route, weighed on the market.

A decline in international wheat prices was mostly the result of lower export quotations due to a strong export pace from the Russian Federation, which exerted downward pressure on prices from other origins, in particular the European Union, the FAO said.

Following the same trajectory, world prices of barley and sorghum also eased. International rice prices edged down by 1.6% in February, as, aside from Indonesian purchases, fresh import demand remained broadly slow and new-crop harvests began in some supplier countries.

The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index cited lower world prices of soy, sunflower and rapeseed oils that more than offset marginally higher palm oil quotations to push the index down 1.6 points (1.3%) from January to 120.9 points, which is 11.9% lower than a year ago.

International soy oil prices dropped markedly in February, mainly underpinned by prospects of abundant soybean outputs from South America amid generally favorable harvesting conditions, the FAO said. Global sunflower and rapeseed oil prices decreased, reflecting lingering ample global export availabilities.

Meanwhile, the benchmark for world food commodity prices declined in February compared to the previous month, as decreases in the price indices for cereals and vegetable oils slightly offset increases for sugar, meat and dairy products.