October 2024: Palaw costs decline by 2.5%.
Cost of Palaw in Ashgabat sees monthly increase amid yearly decline. Sudden surge in sunflower oil prices.
In October 2024, the average cost of preparing palaw in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, dropped to 66.5 Turkmen manat on an annual basis, a 2.5% decline compared to 68.2 manat in October 2023. However, this marked a 4.7% increase from the September 2024 cost of 63.6 manat. Meanwhile, global food prices rose by 5.5% in October 2024, as per the FAO’s Food Price Index.
Yearly price fluctuations of key ingredients in Ashgabat
Compared to October 2023, prices for some ingredients in Ashgabat decreased, while others increased. Rice and onion recorded the most significant declines, with year-on-year drops of 27.1% and 24.4%, respectively. On the other hand, carrots experienced the steepest rise, climbing 34.1%. Other notable increases included sunflower oil (24.3%) and beef (3.4%), while the wheat flour prices remained unchanged, as illustrated in Figure 1.
FAO Price Index: Global Trends by Product Category
- The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index surged by 27.3% year-on-year, marking a two-year high. The rise was driven by higher quotations across palm, soy, sunflower and rapeseed oils. Global sunflower and rapeseed oil prices continued to rise, mainly underpinned by prospects of subdued supplies due to lower expected production in 2024/25.
- The FAO Cereal Price Index, which includes wheat and other grains, decreased by 8.3% year-on-year in October 2024.
- The FAO All Rice Price Index declined by 5.6% in October, reflecting lower quotations for Indica rice driven by expectations of increased competition among exporters following India’s removal of export restrictions on non-broken rice.
- Finally, the FAO Meat Price Index registered a slight increase of 7.5% over the same period.
Sudden surge in sunflower oil prices
In October 2024, sunflower oil prices in Ashgabat rose by 32.2% month-on-month from 17.9 manat in September 2024 to 23.7 manat in October 2024. Media outlet, Turkmennews, reports that Iran closed its border with Turkmenistan on October 4, which followed by the sudden rise in oil prices. It is important to note that the majority of consumed sunflower oil in Turkmenistan is imported from Russia. Another media outlet, Azatlyk reports that oil prices in other regions of the country became more expensive compared to Ashagabat. At this point, the exact cause of the sudden surge in oil prices remains unclear.
Methodology
Prices of ingredients in the Palaw Index are collected for 1 kg of onion, carrot, beef, rice, and flour, and 1 liter of cooking oil. Based on the methodology, in order to cook palaw for a family of four, we use 0.3 liters of cooking oil, 0.5 kg of onion, 1 kg of carrots, 0.6 kg of beef, 1 kg of rice, and 0.5 kg of flour in our formula. Please click here to learn more about the methodology of the Palaw Index.
