Colombian Agricultural Imports Fell in First Quarter of 2024, Led by Large Decline in March

Imports for the Colombian agricultural and agroindustrial products fell by 21% in March, with an overall value of $791 million USD, compared to March 2023, according to the nation’s Agricultural Rural Planning Unit (UPRA)

The agency noted that the decrease is mainly attributed to the reduction in imports of products such as wheat (-43.9% at a total of $40.4 million USD), corn (-19.9%, $35.3 million USD), and rice (-58.8%, $31.9 million USD).

“The decrease in imports of key products reflects an adjustment in the behavior of the Colombian agricultural and agroindustrial market,” said Claudia Cortés, director of UPRA.

The large fall in March helped push down imports overall for the first quarter of the year.

From January through March, sector imports totaled $2.27 billion USD, an 11.8% drop compared to the same period of the previous year.

This quarterly reduction s mainly explained by the decrease in imports of corn (-25.3%, $136.1 million USD), coffee (-51.9%, $40.2 million USD), and milk and its derivatives (-38.3%, $33.4 million USD).

In terms of volume, March imports for the sector totaled 1,427,720 tons, a decrease of 2.7% compared to March 2023.

The first quarter overall had a 2.1% increase in volume vs the first quarter of 2023, with a volume of 3,755,227 tons.

(Photo credit: Jared Wade)