For the first half of 2021, rice imports in the region decreased by 30%, representing a purchase value of $143 million in that period, the main supplier was the United States with $100 million in sales.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graphic"]
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).
For the Central American Rice Federation, the bankruptcy of more than 62 thousand rice farmers in Central America and the Dominican Republic is imminent, due to the abolition of import tariffs, a measure that is part of the implementation of the DR-CAFTA Free Trade Agreement.
Representatives of the sector consider that if the commercial liberalization of rice cultivation continues, there will be an increase in unemployment and poverty in their agricultural areas, since more than 265,000 people depend directly on this crop and approximately 990,000 people indirectly, and foresee serious social, economic and political implications due to the effects of the Treaty.
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"]
In order to supply the deficiency of the local market, the Ministry of Economy authorized the import of 75 thousand metric tons of white corn, which will be subject to a zero tariff.
The May 21 edition of the Diario de Centroamerica published Ministerial Agreement 232-2021, by means of which the Ministry of Economy authorizes the import of white corn, tariff code 1005.90.30.00.
Because in 2023 the tariff on rice imports will be zero because of the CAFTA-DR Treaty, rice producers in El Salvador are asking for a review of the trade agreement.
According to CAFTA-DR, which was signed in 2004 and came into force in 2006, the tariff on imports (DAI) will be eliminated gradually.
The IAD was reduced from 40% to the 13% currently charged; in 2022 it will be reduced to 6.7% and in 2023 it will be reduced to zero.
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"]
From January to September 2020, companies in the region bought corn abroad for $753 million, 10% more than what was reported in the same period of 2019, a variation that is explained by the rise in imports from Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graph"]
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.
During 2020 in the Salvadoran market, bean imports increased by 122% and rice imports by 51%, a rise that is reported in the context of the health and economic crisis generated by the outbreak of covid-19.
Figures from the Central Reserve Bank specify that between 2019 and 2020, foreign purchases of beans increased from $33 million to $60 million, and those of rice increased from $30 million to $45 million.
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"]
Due to the high geographic concentration of global production, Central America has increased its imports, but at the same time has become more vulnerable to crop losses, rising international prices and possible disruptions in supply chains.
The importance of the market for this type of food is that rice, wheat, corn, beans and soybeans are basic foods on which the world's population largely depends, since it is estimated that almost half of the calories consumed by people come from these foods.
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"]
Although the volume of corn, beans, and rice harvested is projected to increase in El Salvador by 2020, producers' expectations are not encouraging, since prices have fallen to levels insufficient to cover costs due to the import of basic grains.
Forecasts by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) indicate that this year the country's corn harvest will grow by 11%, beans by 30% and rice by 20%.
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