The press over the weekend was as quiet as ever on local events but on Saturday October CPI was released by DANE and once again it was both above estimates and moving in the wrong direction. The monthly number was 0.72% (consensus 0.64$) and the 12-month number 12.22% (12.17%) – a year ago that number was at 4.58%. However, whilst above expectations and at a 23 year high, there is likely little here that the Central Bank would not already be aware of, which is just as well as the gathering this month is penciled in as a non-decision meeting. Food continues to be a concern. In October it rose 1.21% which brings the 12 month inflation number to an eye watering 27.02%.

Rupert’s opinions & analysis as an independent expert contributor are his own and not necessarily those of Finance Colombia or the BVC.

Even the tax reform was forgotten for the weekend, setting aside the usual vitriol of social media, but it is fully expected to be rubber stamped this week having made its way through both Congress and the Senate. Never say never, let alone in Colombia but it looks like we now have the final version.

The next taxi off the rank will be the minimum wage discussions – negotiators for both sides will have noted the CPI number just published.

We still await details on the ‘climate emergency’ declared last week by President Petro – how much and where it will come from – whilst some parts of the country had some relief, many didn’t, and the coastal city of Cartagena resembled Venice. The President is away at the COP27 climate change summit and it remains to see if he will make an announcement from there, or on his return.

Consumer Confidence for October will be released today by Fedesarrollo, the expectation is for a deterioration from -11.5% to -16%.

The main macro data is on Friday and is the latest from the Real Sector from September – again a slight deterioration in both Manufacturing Production (from 9.1% to 7.9%) and Retail Sales (8.1% to 7%) is expected – that said August saw surprises to the upside in both.

Please find below the link to the video (LinkedIn) – complete with rain and thunder !

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rupert-stebbings-927b6316a_colombia-activity-6995710874258669568-yZ3j?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

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That is about it for today – remember these are just themes that jump out at me – please refer to your local analyst, economist, salesperson or soothsayer for more details.

My regards to all,

Roops

Around the same time as the Feria de las Flores, Colombia usually hosts the Chrysanthemum Week industry event towards the end of August, where breeders and buyers are invited to visit from around the world to network, learn, and stay up to date on the latest varieties, trends, and offerings. The two events take place roughly around the same time but are not formally linked.

Major Chrysanthemum breeders take part in the event and play host to international visitors under normal circumstances. Typically, representative from major grocery store chains, importers, buyers, and other floral supply chain members converge on the Rionegro area outside of Medellín; the heart of Colombia’s floriculture region. Participating breeders include Selecta One, Royal Van Zanten, Progeny, Icon Selections, Floritec, Dummen Orange, Dekker, Danziger and Dutch multinational Deliflor.

Deliflor held its open house, called Delishow 2020 in conjunction with this year’s Crysanthemum week, and invited Finance Colombia to participate. The multinational with headquarters in Holland, is active in 40 countries, as diverse as Uganda, Ethiopia, Japan, China and of course, Colombia, and offers over 400 varieties of Chrysanthemum. The company, with its Latin American headquarters in Rionegro, Colombia designed a virtual platform and tour for its open house, which under normal circumstances would be a VIP festival hosting international visitors at its state of the art greenhouses and packing facilities, but this year, Colombian airspace remained closed until the last week of September, after the open house activities had closed.

The company uses scientific breeding techniques to naturally create new flower varieties. With those it chooses to commercialize, it puts them through a rigorous export-oriented quality-control procedure to ensure that the flowers can endure air and ocean transport, arriving at their final destinations, with ample shelf-life for both the florist or retailer, and the end consumer.

Deliflor itself is not a flower exporter from Colombia, it sells cuttings to local growers and exporters, and charges an intellectual property license fee on its varieties grown and sold by local greenhouses.

Deliflor does not sell flowers, but provides cuttings to growers and charges an intellectual property licensing fee.

Deliflor’s quality control procedures, include simulating ocean and air cargo conditions to ensure varieties can withstand the rigors of global shipping to provide a positive experience to the importer, retailer, and end customer.