During 2020, Central American rice imports amounted to $388 million, and purchases from Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay increased in year-on-year terms by 751%, 330% and 218%, respectively.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graphic"].
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"]
From January to September 2020, Central American countries imported $360 million for animal feed preparations, 9% more than what was reported in the same period of 2019, a rise that is largely explained by the behavior of purchases from the U.S. and Mexico.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graph"]
From January to September 2020 Central America allocated $298 million to rice imports, and purchases from Brazil increased 808% compared to what was reported in the same period of 2019.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graph"]
The time and cost of maritime routes between Costa Rica and China, and the capacity that the food industry develops to take advantage of existing opportunities, are factors that in the coming years will influence the evolution of the FTA signed between the two countries.
Ten years after the entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement between China and Costa Rica, Costa Rican authorities assure that they are in a continuous negotiation process involving the National Animal Health Service (Senasa) and the State Phytosanitary Service (SFE).
Between February 2018 and September 2020, an upward trend was reported in the average price of Central American pet food imports, going from $0.95 to $1.09 per kilo, which is equivalent to a 15% variation.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graphic"].
In the first six months of 2020, Central American countries bought $56 million in soups and their preparations, 14% more than what was reported in the same period of 2019, a rise that is explained by the behavior of Salvadoran, Nicaraguan, Honduran and Guatemalan imports.
Data from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graph"]
Given the blockade that has been in place since July 2020 to the entry of animal products from Costa Rica into the Panamanian market, the Panamanian guild of poultry farmers supports the actions taken by the Cortizo administration.
At the beginning of the second semester of 2020 the commercial conflict between both countries began, since Panama informed the National Animal Health Service (SENASA), an agency of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica (MAG), about the decision not to extend the authorization for export to a list of Costa Rican establishments previously authorized and that have been commercializing in the Panamanian market for many years.
From January to June 2020, companies in the region imported $110 million in dog and cat food, 18% more than the same period in 2019, a rise that is explained by the increase in purchases in all Central American markets.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graphic"]
In the first half of 2020, Central America spent $206 million on rice imports, 50% more than in the same period in 2019, with Honduras, Panama, El Salvador and Guatemala being the markets that boosted the increase in purchases.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
Because yellow corn is imported from the United States at a price of $11 per quintal in Nicaragua and the cost of producing a quintal of sorghum locally is $12.5, competition for local producers is nearly impossible.
Nicaragua is part of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement, an agreement that allows yellow corn from the United States to enter the local market free of tariffs.
From January to June 2020, the region's companies bought corn abroad for $525 million, 20% more than reported for the same period in 2019, a variation that is explained by the increase in imports from all Central American markets.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graph"]
From January to July 2020, companies in the countries of the region imported from Mexico infant and toddler formulas for $57 million, and 50% was purchased by companies in Honduras and Nicaragua.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]