Due to the high demand for commodities, it is estimated that prices in the international market have increased on average between 30% and 40%, a situation that favors Nicaraguan exporters of raw materials.
According to local businessmen, the price of coffee has climbed to historic highs, since last week it was quoted at $170 per quintal, a price that has not been registered since years ago.
In Nicaragua, Astro Packing Solution, a company involved in the manufacture of packaging and plastic products, notified its clients that it will close indefinitely due to a shortage of raw materials.
CentralAmericaData anticipated this scenario in mid-February. According to a publication dated February 15, due to the shortage of raw materials and the bottlenecks in the production of the inputs demanded by the plastics industry, businessmen in the region predicted that in the coming months the prices of the products manufactured by the sector would increase.
Due to the imbalance in world trade flows, shipping lines have changed their routes and prefer to move empty containers to Asia, a situation that generates shortages and causes increases in freight rates and raw material prices.
In this scenario of new commercial reality, the operating costs of maritime freight have been impacted, since due to the restrictions imposed in several countries around the world, containers have been stranded.
"If we overcome the mental barrier of commoditization, identifying and communicating those added values going beyond our basic proposal, we will have the opportunity to take our profitability to another level."
Ariel Banos, founder of Fijaciondeprecios.com explains that when a proposal is a commodity, in other words, it lacks differentiation with respect to others offered in the market, the only alternative is to align itself with the prices charged by competitors. There are no magic solutions.
In the second month of this year, the FAO food price index rose by 8 percent compared to the same month in 2019, explained by rising prices of meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar.
From FAO's monthly report:
-The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) averaged 180.5 points in February 2020, down 1.9 points (1.0 percent) from January but still 13.5 points (8.1 percent) higher than in February 2019.
Business people in Central America agree that because of the virus that has been spreading from China, global supply chains have been disrupted and commodity prices have fallen.
An analysis by the Guatemalan exporters' union states that among the risks identified as a result of the outbreak of the coronavirus (a highly contagious disease that emerged in the city of Wuhan, in central China), is the possible irruption to the supply chains of Guatemalan industries, by identifying that China has become one of the 3 main countries of origin of Guatemalan imports.
In the seventh month of the year, FAO's food price index rose 2% over the same month in 2018, again explained by the increase in the prices of cereals, meat and sugar.
From FAO's monthly report:
» The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) averaged 170.9 points in July 2019, down 1.1 percent (1.8 points) from June but 2.3 percent higher than in July 2018.
In the sixth month of the year, the FAO food price index increased by 1% compared to the same month in 2018, explained by the increase in the prices of cereals, meat and sugar.
From FAO's monthly report:
The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) averaged 173 points in June 2019, down marginally (0.3 percent) from May and very close to its level in June 2018.
In the fourth month of the year, the FAO food price index fell 2% over the same month in 2018, explained by the decline in prices of meat, cereals and vegetable oils.
From FAO's monthly report:
The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) rose in April 2019 to around 170 points, 1.5 percent (2.5 points) higher than in March and marking its highest value since June 2018.
In the third month of the year, the FAO food price index fell 4% from March 2018, explained by the decline in the prices of meat, cereals, vegetable oils and sugar.
From FAO's monthly report:
» The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) held steady in March 2019, averaging 167 points and still hovering around its highest value since August 2018.
In September, the FAO food price index decreased 7% compared to the same month in 2017, because of lower prices for meat, dairy products, cereals, vegetable oils and sugar.
From FAO's monthly report:
» The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) averaged 163.5 points in October 2018, down 1.4 points (0.9 percent) from September and some 13 points (7.4 percent) below its level in the corresponding period last year.
In July, the FAO food price index registered the sharpest monthly decline since December 2017, due to a reduction in the prices of all the food in it.
From the monthly FAO report:
» The FAO Food Price Index* (FFPI) averaged 168.8 points in July 2018, down as much as 6.5 points (3.7 percent) from June and 10.3 points (3.7 percent) from the corresponding period last year.
Through an Agreement on Administrative Cooperation on Matters of Origin both countries will be able to exchange and accumulate raw material for the manufacture of various exportable products.
The agreement aims to generate more business between companies in both countries, and in turn boost exports to countries in the European Union, with whom both Ecuador and Nicaragua already have trade agreements.
From January to September 2017 the region imported $543 million worth of corn, and 54% was purchased by companies in Guatemala and Costa Rica.
Figures from the information system on the the Corn Market in Central America, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with the graph"]
World food prices fell slightly in November, as the decline in prices of dairy products offset a sharp increase in the prices of sugar and vegetable oils.
From a statement by the World Food Organization (FAO):
7 December 2017, Rome - Global food prices declined marginally in November, as lower dairy prices offset a sharp increase in sugar and vegetable oil quotations, according to the latest FAO Food Price Index issued today.