In Costa Rica, since July 2020 the producer price index for the manufacturing sector started to report increases, a situation that could lead to a rise in sales prices and simultaneously to a fall in the quantity of products traded.
Between December 2019 and June 2020, the producer price index for the manufacturing sector (IPP-MAN) reported negative year-on-year variations.
Due to shortages in raw materials and bottlenecks in the production of inputs demanded by the sector, businessmen in El Salvador expect that in the coming weeks the prices of plastic products will reflect increases.
Following the entry into force of the Sign Law, agencies engaged in providing printed advertising services estimate that the cost of billboards will increase by 30% due to the new tax payments to be made to the municipalities.
According to the Assembly, the purpose of the Law is to establish the legal framework to regulate the advertising and propaganda carried out by means of signs located in the municipalities of the country, based on urban, suburban and rural planning and development, as well as technological advances.
Following the reactivation of China's economy in mid-2020, the Asian giant has monopolized a good part of the raw materials demanded by industry, a situation that is pushing up costs and generating uncertainty among Central American businessmen.
Due to the pandemic generated by the covid-19 outbreak, production in China was considerably interrupted during the first semester of 2020.
The business sector in Guatemala is anticipating an increase in the prices of food and medicines, due to the government's decision to raise the cost of procedures such as the issuance of licenses and health registrations, required to market these products.
By means of Government Agreement 179-2020, which entered into force on December 1, 2020, new fees were imposed for the services of procedures for licenses, registrations and other processes for medicines, laboratories, pharmaceuticals, food products and others.
The Panama Chamber of Commerce requested the Panama Canal Authority to postpone the start of collection of the fee for the use of fresh water in the Canal, which would begin to be paid on February 15, 2020.
On January 13, the Panama Canal Authority announced that this year "... the value of water will be incorporated into the line of other maritime services through a charge for fresh water, which will depend on the availability of the resource at the time of the vessel's transit. The freshwater charge is applicable to all vessels over 125 feet in length that transit the Canal:
Guatemalan producers report that their profit margins have been reduced because the threat of the Fusarium R4T pest has forced them to increase their spending on phytosanitary measures and crop biosecurity.
The outlook for sugar producers in Nicaragua is complex, since they must face a fall in international prices, coupled with rising operating costs at the local level.
According to international reports, from January 2018 to September 2019, the average price of a quintal of sugar has remained below $14, even dropping to $10.46 in August 2018.
From 2020 onwards, the fuel used by ships worldwide should not exceed 0.5% sulphur concentration, forcing transporters to consume higher priced fuels, which could become even more expensive because of increased demand.
From January 1, 2020, the concentration of sulphur in the fuel consumed by maritime transport vessels must not exceed 0.5%, a limit that until now was at 3.5%.
In a competitive scenario for lower costs and higher productivity, devaluation against the Lempira Dollar in Honduras and the Cordoba Dollar in Nicaragua is a factor that could help these economies stay competitive.
In the last five years, the exchange rate in Honduras increased by 17%, from 21.06 Lempiras per U.S. dollar in June 2014 to 24.67 in the same month in 2019.
The costs incurred by businessmen in Nicaragua, because of excessive procedures and low efficiency of foreign trade systems is 25% additional to the value of the goods, while in El Salvador and Costa Rica, amounts to 18% and 16%, respectively.
A study by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) specifies that the costs paid by businessmen in Nicaragua, because of excessive procedures and low efficiency of foreign trade systems is 25.3% additional to the value of the goods, followed by El Salvador with 18.3%, Costa Rica with 16.3%, Honduras with 15.8%, Guatemala with 14% and Panama with 9%.
The VAT that will be gradually collected in Costa Rica over four years would put tourism businesses in a disadvantageous position, since they will have to increase product prices or reduce their profits.
The implementation of Value Added Tax (VAT) will be done gradually, from 0% in the first year, 4% in the second year, 8% in the third year and 13% from the fourth year, a situation that would make the operation of tourism companies more expensive.
After nine days of strikes by public officials in Costa Rica, tour operators, hotels and restaurants in different parts of the country are reporting that reservations are being cancelled and sales are plummeting.
The strike being promoted by the country's public unions started on Monday, September 6, and has already caused millions of dollars worth of losses due to multiple road blocks and acts of sabotage in the fuel distribution chain, among other coercive measures.
Following a week of strikes by public unions in Costa Rica, the private sector is demanding that authorities act faster and prevent public roads from being blockaded.
In the face of the strike led by public unions in the country, which has now been ongoing for more than seven days, the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP) is demanding that the government act quickly and avoid further blockades on public roads.
While in 2012 a company had to pay about $50 for the export formalities, up to September this year, that amount was $125.
Export procedures include certificates of origin, phytosanitary certificates, commercial invoices, fumigation, cargo insurance, among other things, according to the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (Procomer).
Lander Roman, an export logistics analyst at Procomer told Nacion.com that "...
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