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Prices of wheat and maize remained at well above their year-earlier levels in November

15/12/2022

Across the subregion, prices of wheat exhibited mixed trends and remained at high levels. In Argentina, the subregion’s major wheat producer, prices continued to increase in November, supported by unfavourable production prospects owing to persistent drought conditions. The 2022 production is officially forecast to be 30 percent below the five-year average. Prices were more than double their year-earlier levels, reflecting the strong international demand. In Brazil, while prices declined seasonally in Rio Grande do Sul, prices rose in Paraná, driven by lower-than-expected yields due to excessive moisture. Prices declined in Uruguay with the start of the 2022 harvest, anticipated at an above-average level on account of large plantings. Similarly, prices weakened in Chile ahead of the 2022 harvest, as expectations for a year-on-year increase in the 2022 wheat output provided downward pressure. In importing countries, prices held steady at high levels in Ecuador and Peru, and strengthened in the Plurinational State of Bolivia and Colombia. In the Plurinational State of Bolivia, reduced supplies from the low harvests and imports in 2022 kept prices well above their year‑earlier values.

 

Prices of yellow maize also remained mostly up from a year earlier, supported by elevated production costs and higher international quotations. In Brazil, prices remained stable in November, with markets adequately supplied with the record 2022 maize output. The area sown with the 2023 minor season crop, currently being planted, is officially estimated at a below-average level, as farmers preferred to plant soybeans. In Argentina, prices rose in November for the fourth consecutive month, with the 2023 planting ongoing under dry conditions. While prices remained at high levels in Chile, Colombia, Peru and Uruguay, they followed mixed trends in Ecuador despite the ongoing minor harvest. In the Plurinational State of Bolivia, prices rose in November, on account of reduced availability from the dryness-affected 2022 production.

 

Regarding rice, prices weakened in Brazil and Uruguay, with the 2023 crops seedling under generally favourable conditions and remained below their year-earlier levels. By contrast, in Colombia, prices continued to strengthen, as high production costs and a below-average harvest in 2022 exerted upward pressure on prices. In Peru, prices were stable in November, reflecting adequate market supplies. In the above two countries, prices remained above those a year earlier, when 2020 and 2021 bumper harvests kept prices at low levels.