The latest report from the European Commission makes for grim reading, with prices for all major commodities, including grains, meat and dairy, suffering big drops in price over the last 12 months. However, while the data shows significant declines for most commodities on the global market, European prices are still down, but have been more insulated.

Grains

For 2015, the world market price of all cereal grains in December was down significantly year-on-year. Soft wheat prices were back almost 27%, while maize and barley prices took a hit of 8% and 17% respectively.

Within the European market, wheat prices are back almost 12% year-on-year to around €168/t, while maize prices were down almost 2% to €159/t. Barley prices were also back 2% to €159/t levels.

Meat

Global meat prices are also down significantly over the 12 months to December 2015. Average beef prices have fallen more than 30%, while pork prices are down almost 33%. Poultry values have remained relatively steady.

In the European market, average beef prices actually rose 3% to more than €3.80/kg, while the average price of pork was back over 6% year-on-year at €1.26/kg. EU poultry prices fell 2% to €1.80/kg.

Dairy

The latest data show a drop across the board for dairy commodity prices on the world market, with butter prices down 4% and cheese back almost 16%. Both milk powder commodities were also back in price, with SMP down over 20%, while WMP prices were back 7%.

European dairy commodity prices fared better than on the world market, with butter prices generally flat year-on-year, although cheese prices were back more than 8% in Europe last year. European prices for SMP dropped 9%, while WMP prices fell by 5%.