In Panama, the company Agrosilos S.A., invests in the expansion of its facilities located in the district of Chepo, the works include the construction of three new silos that will be used to store rice.
With the execution of this investment, this plant will now have nine silos, with capacity for 693 thousand quintals of rice storage, according to a press release from the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA).
In order to increase its installed capacity, in Guatemala the company Rianxeira invested $2.5 million in the commissioning of two new industrial buildings.
In 2020, Central American countries spent $460 million to import bakery, pastry and biscuit products; of the total amount purchased abroad, Guatemalan, Honduran and Panamanian companies represented 62%.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graphic"].
During 2020, companies in the region bought corn abroad for $998 million, 5% more than what was reported in 2019, a variation that is explained by the increase in imports from Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Costa Rica.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graph"]
During 2020, Central American imports of infant formula for infant feeding packaged for retail sale totaled $134 million, an amount that is 9% lower than the amount reported in 2019.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graph"]
The Dominican Republic's National Student Welfare Institute bids for the supply of school lunch food rations and their distribution in public schools during the 2021-2022 school term.
Dominican Republic Government Purchase INABIE-CCC-LPN-2021-0009:
"The purpose of this call is the Supply of Food Rations of the School Lunch and its Distribution in Public Educational Centers during the 2021-2022 school period, carried out by the National Institute of Student Welfare, Ministry of Education, Extended School Day Modality, aimed at Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that present kitchens installed in the National Territory.
The Panamanian president approved the bill that creates the Agencia Panamena de Alimentos (Panamanian Food Agency) and repeals Decree Law 11 of 2006, which created the Panamanian Food Safety Authority.
The new law establishes that the constitutional competencies related to phytosanitary and zoosanitary measures return to the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) with the objective of protecting the national agricultural patrimony, to the Ministry of Health the competencies related to food safety, the control of zoonoses and food-borne diseases (ETA), while the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, the one related to Copanit technical standards and the administration of compliance with international trade agreements, details an official statement.
After the Costa Rican government authorized the importation of 50 thousand metric tons of paddy rice, the National Rice Corporation is requesting that this volume be increased by an additional 20 thousand tons.
The National Rice Corporation (CONARROZ) requests the government to increase the Shortage Decree No. 42765-MAG-MEIC-COMEX, through which the import of 50,061 thousand metric tons of paddy rice was authorized, by 20 thousand tons more, to ensure local consumption at a fair price, says a statement issued by the guild on March 15, 2021.
Peru demonstrates that through specific actions it is possible to turn a country's gastronomy into an engine of development, a situation that generates opportunities to export a wide and diversified offer of food products.
The international positioning of Peru's gastronomic industry is the result of more than three decades of public/private actions aimed at turning gastronomy into an engine of development, driven by civil society.
Since Chile and Peru do not ship the product at the beginning of each year and that in the highlands of the country there are suitable areas to harvest the fruit, it is possible to take advantage of the commercial opportunities that exist in the foreign market.
Specialists agree that in order to increase the production of this fruit, producers must become more technified, access to credit must be facilitated and marketing policies must be implemented.
In the last quarter of 2020 and in January 2021 in Panama, Honduras and El Salvador interest in fast food reported a clear rebound, contrary to the situation in Guatemala, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, markets where Internet searches decreased.
Through a system that monitors in real time changes in consumer interests and preferences in Central American countries, developed by CentralAmericaData, it is possible to project short and long term demand trends for the different products, services, sectors and markets operating in the region.
The Ministry of Government of Panama tenders the supply, preparation and distribution of prepared food to be consumed by inmates, guards and police officers in the penitentiary centers of the provinces of Colon and Panama, for a three-year term.
Panama Government Purchase 2021-0-04-0-99-LP-012084:
"The site visits will be conducted as follows:
1. La Joya, La Joyita and La Nueva Joya Penitentiary Center, on March 2, 2021, departing from the HEADQUARTERS of the Ministry of Government at 9:00 am.
The increase in the international prices of corn and soybeans, inputs used to produce animal feed, threatens to put upward pressure on the production costs of meat, eggs and dairy products.
In recent months, the international price of a bushel (27 kilos) of soybeans increased by 28%, from $10.6 to $13.62, between November 1, 2020 and January 28, 2021.
As a result of the blockade to the entrance to the Panamanian market of products of animal origin coming from Costa Rica, on January 11 the Costa Rican government requested to the WTO the application of the mechanism of consultation with Panama.
The trade conflict began in July 2020, when Panama informed the National Animal Health Service (SENASA), an agency of the Costa Rican Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), of the decision not to extend the export authorization to a list of Costa Rican establishments previously authorized and which have been trading in the Panamanian market for many years.