Dramatic increases in international agricultural commodity prices began in 2006 and peaked in July, 2008. An equally remarkable and rapid decline of those prices then ensued, accompanied by extreme volatility in those prices. The trend in food prices lagged the rapid increases in other commodity prices, including oil and metals, but accompanied those other prices in the downward part of the cycle. Not all agricultural commodities increased to the same extent – grains and oilseed prices increased the most, with rice among the most expensive at the peak and rising as much as crude oil, while prices of some African exports (cocoa, coffee and cotton) increased to a much smaller extent than the grains.