ROME, July 5 (Reuters) - The United Nations world food

price index held steady in June data showed on Friday, with

increases in vegetable oil, sugar and dairy products offset by a

fall in the price of cereals.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's price index,

which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged

120.6 points in June, unchanged from May. The May figure was

revised from an initial reading of 120.4.

The FAO index hit a three-year low in February as food

prices receded from a record peak set in March 2022 following

Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The June reading was 2.5% down from a year earlier and 24.8%

below its 2022 high.

Cereal prices fell 3.0% month on month amid slightly

improved production prospects in some major exporting countries,

including Kazakhstan and Ukraine, the FAO said.

Maize export prices also dropped, with production in

Argentina and Brazil expected to be larger than earlier thought.

Dairy prices rose 1.2% in June from May, while the sugar

index rose 1.9%, lifted in part by lower-than-expected harvest

results in May in Brazil, the FAO said.

Vegetable oil prices jumped 3.1%, buoyed by higher

quotations for palm, soy and sunflower oils, while rapeseed oil

prices remained virtually unchanged.

Meat prices were also stable, with a fall in international

poultry prices but slight increases in the prices of ovine, pig

and bovine meats.

In a separate report, the FAO raised its forecast for global

cereal production in 2024 by 7.9 million metric tons (+0.3%),

putting it at 2.854 billion tons, up fractionally from 2023

levels and marking a new all-time high forecast.

The increase reflected improved prospects for coarse grains,

which were bolstered by higher expectations for maize harvests

in Argentina and Brazil.

The forecast for world cereal utilisation in the 2024/25

period stood at 2.856 billion tons, up 0.5% on 2023/24, while

the FAO's forecast for world cereal stocks by the close of

seasons in 2025 stood at 894 million tons.