The Colombian Mercantile Exchange (BMC) released the Colombian Agricultural Price Index or inflation index for February. This registered a decline of -1.02% compared to last January, which was the first negative variation since July 2022.
The real annual expenditure of Colombian households on milk and dairy products was -9.7% during 2022.
In annual terms, the index registered an increase of 22.7% compared to the same month of 2022, a figure that marks the lowest variation of the indicator in 20 months (June 2021). This result contrasts with the annual variation registered in February 2022, when it was 36.8%, the same month in which its monthly variation was 4.42%.
According to the BMC, Agricultural products adjusted their dynamics in recent months and took pressure off headline inflation. However, it highlighted that there is a strong effect of a high base of comparison, since it is undeniable that the prices of the sector continue at high levels.
“The moderation in the growth rate of the prices of agricultural products is evident and is also confirmed by the setbacks recently observed in the Producer Price Index (IPP) of the agricultural sector and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of food . In fact, the annual variation of the 12-month index (March 2022-February 2023 versus March 2021-February 2022) fell last January for the first time since November 2020, going from 32.3% to 32%, and in February it gave a new and important reduction up to 30.7%”, indicated the Colombian Mercantile Exchange.
It noted that in February the prices of the products that increased the most in price were cattle, citrus, cassava and tropical fruits. While bananas, other oleaginous fruits, green legumes, leafy or stem vegetables, and chickens and hens had a pronounced decrease in prices.
Supply and food security
On the other hand, the Rural Agricultural Planning Unit (UPRA) presented the February food supply and security bulletin, which compared the food supply between January and February 2023 and observed that in February 401,279 tons of food entered the main wholesale centers in the country, which meant a growth of 17.8% (60,691 tons), compared to the 340,589 tons registered during January.
During February there was also a slowdown in the price increase of an important group of products that had been showing increases, including black potatoes and meat. In the case of potatoes, there were reductions in all varieties of black potatoes.
According to the general director of Upra, Felipe Fonseca Fino, the fall in potato prices is a remarkable fact because it included all black potatoes, the reduction exceeded 10% in varieties of great demand in the capira, the pastusa brown and the only one.
“This event is even more relevant because it occurred at a time when the flow of this and other products from Nariño to the rest of the country was greatly affected due to the collapse of the Pan-American Highway. Historically, when there is an interruption in the flow of products, there are two very different impacts: a rise in prices in the destination city, which sees its supply limited, and a drop in the city that ships or exports the product”. explained Fonseca Fino.
Other products that lowered their prices in February 2023 were the main cuts and presentations of beef, pork, and chicken. This fact is positive compared to the increases registered for these same products in previous months.
In vegetables, the most important result was the reduction in the prices of white bighead onion, tomatoes, paprika and carrots, a result that was canceled out by the increases in rush onion, peas and green beans and the beetroot.
The other side of the coin was the fruits; Tahiti lemon, tangerines, guavas, papayas, passion fruit, Castilla blackberry, tree tomato and passion fruit became more expensive by more than 10%.
This behavior can be explained taking into account that February is not a month where the supply of fruit increases because it is the month where the climate begins to change as a prelude to the winter season of the first semester. However, fruits like common lemons, oranges and soursop fell in price. with Infobae