PARIS, May 3 (Reuters) - The United Nations food

agency's world price index rose for a second consecutive month

in April as higher meat prices and small increases in vegetable

oils and cereals outweighed declines in sugar and dairy

products.

The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) price index,

which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged

119.1 points in April, up from a revised 118.8 points for March,

the agency said on Friday.

The FAO's April reading was nonetheless 7.4% below the level

a year earlier.

The indicator hit a three-year low in February as food

prices continued to move back from a record peak in March 2022

at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of fellow crop

exporter Ukraine.

In April, meat showed the strongest gain in prices, rising

1.6% from the prior month. Higher prices for poultry, beef and

sheep meat offset a small fall for pork, which was affected by

slow demand in Western Europe and from leading importers,

especially China, the FAO said.

The FAO's cereal index inched up to end a three-month

decline, supported by stronger export prices for maize (corn).

Vegetable oil prices also ticked higher, extending previous

gains to reach a 13-month high due to strength in sunflower and

rapeseed oil.

The sugar index dropped sharply, shedding 4.4% from March to

stand 14.7% below its year-earlier level amid improving global

supply prospects.

Dairy prices edged down, ending a run of six consecutive

monthly gains.

In separate cereal supply and demand data, the FAO nudged up

its estimate of world cereal production in 2023/24 to 2.846

billion metric tons from 2.841 billion projected last month, up

1.2% from the previous year, notably due to updated figures for

Myanmar and Pakistan.

For upcoming crops, the agency lowered its forecast for 2024

global wheat output to 791 million tons from 796 million last

month, reflecting a larger drop in wheat planting in the

European Union than previously expected.

The revised 2024 wheat output outlook was nonetheless about

0.5% above the previous year's level.