Across the subregion, prices of wheat remained overall stable at high levels. The notable exception was Argentina, the subregion’s major wheat producer, where unfavourable production prospects exerted strong upward pressure on prices for the second consecutive month. Persistent dryness reduced sowings of the 2022 crop, currently at critical flowering and grain filling stages, to a below-average level, negatively affecting yield prospects. Prices remained well above their October 2021 levels, reflecting the record-high export sales during the first nine months of the year. In Brazil, prices were stable or strengthened despite the ongoing harvest, as excessive moisture in the key producing state of Paraná affected crop yields. Prices were at least 10 percent higher year-on-year, after sustained increases in the first half of 2022. Similarly, prices held steady in Chile and Uruguay ahead of the 2022 harvest, projected to increase on a yearly basis on account of larger plantings. In importing countries, prices held steady in Bolivia (Plurinational State of) and Peru in October, and strengthened modestly in Colombia.

Prices of yellow maize followed mixed trends and remained mostly up from a year earlier, supported by elevated production costs and higher international quotations. Brazil was the only country where prices were lower year-on-year, as the record 2022 maize output increased market availabilities. In October, prices were stable, with planting of the 2023 minor season crop underway. In Argentina and Chile, prices rose in October for the third consecutive month, with the 2023 planting ongoing. In Argentina, soil moisture deficits contributed to the slow pace of operations and dented sowing prospects. While prices were stable at levels 10 percent higher year-on-year in Peru and Uruguay, they continued to weaken seasonally in Colombia and Ecuador. In Bolivia (Plurinational State of), prices followed mixed trends and were above their year-earlier levels, owing to a decline in the 2022 production, affected by dryness in the main producing department of Santa Cruz.

Regarding rice, prices rose in the capital city of Brazil due to large export sales in October, following the weakening of the national currency as a result of uncertainty related to the presidential election. Prices remained below the atypically high levels registered a year earlier. In Uruguay, where planting of the 2023 crop was recently completed, prices declined in October and were 10 percent below their values a year earlier, owing to the above-average 2022 harvest. Similarly, in Peru, prices weakened for the third consecutive month, as markets continue to be adequately supplied with the main season output. By contrast, in Colombia, prices continued to strengthen despite the ongoing main harvest, as high production costs and expectations for a below-average harvest exerted upward pressure on prices. In the latter two countries, prices remained above those a year earlier, when 2020 and 2021 bumper harvests kept prices at low levels.