The increases in market prices continue, chicken and egg will be the most affected

The ravages that the COVID 19 pandemic left on the country's economy has been mainly reflected in the increase in household products, according to the most recent Bulletin on Food Supply and Security projected by the Rural Agricultural Planning Unit, UPRA, and in March the prices of products in the different markets of the country.

According to data from the National Federation of Poultry Fenavi, delivered to La República, inputs to feed animals weigh more than 80% in the production chain. Chickens and chickens are mainly fed a mixture of corn, beans and soybeans, which are mostly exported.

The experts expected that the price of eggs would stabilize during 2022, but, the current crisis generated by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, among other factors, have increased the cost of raw materials such as soy, soy cake and yellow corn, therefore, this has had an impact on the rise in prices not only from eggs, but from all products derived from chicken.

In fact, rice and eggs increased more during the last month, compared to the first two of the year. In the case of rice, the increases are mainly due to high fertilizer costs and seasonal behavior, since it is not harvest time.

Even the winter season has a reduction in the collection of products such as potatoes, lemons, mangoes and tangerines, so they also generate a sharp increase in the prices of fruits and some vegetables.

The CEO of Fenavi, Gonzalo Moreno, said that “there is a direct correlation of the cost of raw materials worldwide and, in the case of Colombia, with the price of chicken and eggs”, in fact, figures from the National Administrative Department of Statistics, Dane, last year, according to the Consumer Price Index, chicken increased by 26.4% and that of eggs 18.4%, this is due to factors such as the blockades caused during the National Strike.

In the case of meats, the only product that has shown a reduction in costs is pork cuts, which have been reduced by 2.5% on average. Chicken, by contrast, increased by almost 4%, while beef also continues to grow more expensive.

The Ministry of Agriculture assures that poultry farming is the most important livestock activity in the country, generating about 400,000 direct and indirect jobs. These figures demonstrate the importance of chicken and what the increase in its derived products represents in the Colombian economy.

In the case of fruits, patilla, domestic or imported pear, common avocado and papelillo, common mango and sugar, papaya, red, green and red globe grapes; Atlantic and common guava, and sweet and valencia oranges; they are currently in harvest, so prices are expected to fall in the coming days.

Other products that could reduce their prices are vegetables, for example: cabbage (white and green), red head onion and reed, spinach, crepe lettuce, broccoli, green beans, long life tomatoes, tomatoes long life, kidney and chonto; choccolo cob, zucchini and cauliflower.

Experts have estimated that, during the first quarter of the year, inflation will exceed 6% and that it will begin to moderate in the second quarter. They expect that, by the end of the year, the CPI could be around 4%. On April 5th, Dane will announce what inflation was in March and thus reveal the official figures for the first quarter of the year.

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