Posted on 01/09/2007 4:35:10 PM PST by A. Pole
MEXICO CITY (AP)--Mexican legislators, producers, and consumers are battling with the government over how best to control the rising price of corn tortillas, a centuries-old staple of the Mexican diet.
Some lawmakers are calling on renewing price controls used in the past, while incoming economy secretary Eduardo Sojo says a better move would be to help farmers increase production.
Rising demand is a major factor pushing up corn prices, Sojo told a news conference Monday - in particular the fact that more U.S. corn is being diverted for the production of ethanol, instead of heading to Mexicos consumer market.
Farmers also cite rising production, transportation and energy costs.
Regarding the more structural changes impacting demand, Mexicos government has to design programs, together with producers and farmer organizations, to increase productivity and the production of corn, Sojo said.
The economy and agriculture ministries are devising plans to support Mexican corn farmers through the correct incentives, he said, adding that he wasnt sure if that would involve subsidies.
Sojo rejected the possibility of price controls, which have been called for by some farming groups and legislators, saying they would create disincentives for production and hurt market efficiency.
Corn prices in Mexico have climbed sharply over the past year following widespread speculation in markets for both locally produced and imported grains, due to uncertainty about how much U.S. corn would be available for Mexican importers.
Prices for white corn used to make tortillas have been hit the hardest.
Although local corn prices are typically volatile around harvest time, which mostly falls in the second half of the year, traders say the farm gate price for white corn saw an unprecedented rise of up to 45% in 2006 compared with the year-ago levels in the Mexican market.
Grains traders have forecast tortilla prices to rise between 20% and 25% during the last quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007.
Amazing! After cheap NAFTA corn ruined millions of Mexican farmers, forcing them to flood cities and USA in search of survival, the price of corn goes up? Who could expect that?
Perhaps all the Mexican illegal aliens who have snuck into America should return to help their country instead of staying here and sucking ours dry. Good deal for everyone.
Perhaps the illegals could swap a few bucks oops, pesos on the way out to prop up the price of corn. Might help pay for those GPS units the corrupt officials want to hand out to make sure the bums, oops illegals, I mean undocumented workers don't get lost.
And exactly how are they to make a living? ADM, Cargill, etc. are the engines for Mexican migration, not some secret plan to make you eat tortillas.
I guess it's tough tacos for the Mexicans. This just goes to show the stupidity of making ethanol out of corn. Corn is food and if the Mexicans eat this stuff they should have the right to buy it from us to eat in Mexico. Or they'll come up here and buy it.
And of course, the first thought is to put price controls on corn... That'll take them straight from higher prices to shortages! Idiots!
Mark
Buy tortillas!
I do. I cut out wheat and I've got my appetite under control. Thank goodness you can get good tortillas in the markets now. There's ONE benefit to immigration. Now for the debits... (oops, computer went down)
"Amazing! After cheap NAFTA corn ruined millions of Mexican farmers, forcing them to flood cities and USA in search of survival, the price of corn goes up? Who could expect that?"
Maybe the the Mexican people should stage a Mexican "corn" party? (Boston "tea" party)
To clarify, I might suggest that when workers migrate out of the country for higher wages, then send dollars home (a LOT of dollars, relative to the local economy), prices are bound to rise.
Those who don't have relatives in del Norte could be in trouble...
And will be under more pressure to move north. When you remove economic barriers between nations, people will tend to migrate and merge.
No tortillas?
Permítales comer pan!
We don't like barriers, but we don't like migration and merger either.
It is not America's responsibility to provide jobs for Mexico. The fact that Bush and Fox were so cozy didn't help either country, did it?
That was my first thought. They've been complaining like crazy that our subsidized corn has been selling for less than it costs them to grow it. They've been saying we're putting their farmers out of business, and have been particularly upset because corn is such a vital part of their culture. Now when corn prices go up, they're complaining about that.
"Corn prices in Mexico have climbed sharply over the past year following widespread speculation in markets for both locally produced and imported grains, due to uncertainty about how much U.S. corn would be available for Mexican importers."
Speculation, that's the operative word here.
You would complain too! Now their farm are destroyed and they became dependent on US agribusiness (the later employing their displaced farmers as "undocumented" laborers) and their food costs more. Typical bait and switch tactics.
This isn't related to NAFTA, it's related to the price of corn being high in the US, and due to the push toward ethanol (E85 fuel etc) this problem isn't going away. There are other problems in Mexico which are also partly to blame:
Mexico to legalize drugs, Measure decriminalizes personal use
Posted on 04/29/2006 2:37:45 AM EDT by South40
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1623630/posts
Mexico legal-drug bill condemned (OK Personal Use)
San Diego Union | April 29, 2006 | Tony Manolatos, Anna Cearley and Pauline Repard
Posted on 04/29/2006 10:38:33 AM EDT by radar101
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1623715/posts
U.S. cautious on Mexico plan to legalize drugs
MSNBC.com | April 29, 2006 | Staff
Posted on 04/30/2006 2:12:05 PM EDT by CrawDaddyCA
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1624194/posts
Mexico's Fox to OK drug decriminalization law
Reuters | 3 May 2006
Posted on 05/02/2006 9:08:26 PM EDT by Aussie Dasher
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1625661/posts
I don't think there were any bait and switch tactics being employed. It's just the way things worked out. There really hasn't been a corn shortage. Supplies were a little lower than expected mainly because of drought. But the main thing moving prices now is speculation. There is a fear that corn supply will be really tight because so much corn is expected to be used by the ethanol industry. Farmers in this country are likely to plant several million more acres this year than last and if the weather is good and yields are as high as they could be corn prices will tank again and Mexican farmers will be in the same boat they've been in in years past. The market will be flooded with cheap American corn. It is winter time in Mexico too though. They can gear up and plant more corn when planting season comes. The difficulty of course will be knowing how much to plant. Corn futures may be trading high now, but will corn prices be high come next harvest? We'll see.
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