Wholesale prices of white maize exhibited mixed trends across the subregion in May 2024. In Guatemala, following a short-lived increase in prices in April, owing to a delayed start to the 2024 main season planting activities, prices declined slightly in May as markets remained adequately supplied with higher year-on-year imports during the first quarter of 2024 and carryover stocks from the 2023 production. Prices continued to decline in El Salvador, weighed down by abundant imports during the first four months of 2024, which were about 40 percent larger than in the same period a year ago. By contrast, prices rose for the second consecutive month in Nicaragua, reflecting tight domestic supplies from the below‑average 2023 harvest and strengthened in the two major markets in Honduras. White maize prices were down by more than 20 percent from the high levels observed a year earlier in El Salvador and Honduras, following sustained declines between September 2023 and April 2024 due to year-on-year larger imports and lower input costs. Prices were slightly lower year-on-year in Guatemala and close to their year-earlier levels in Nicaragua.

In Mexico, wholesale prices of white maize declined in May 2024 due to improved market supplies from the ongoing minor season harvest. The notable exceptions were Guadalajara (Jalisco State) and Xalapa (Veracruz State) markets, where slow progress of the main season planting due to soil moisture deficits provided upward pressure on prices. Across major markets, prices were below their year-earlier levels, except in Xalapa market (Veracruz State), where prices remained 45 percent higher year‑on-year, following sharp increases since September 2023, driven by concerns over the impact of unfavourable weather conditions.

Wholesale prices of black beans rose moderately for the third consecutive month in May 2024 in Guatemala, due to lower year-on-year supplies from the 2023 Postrera harvest. Prices remained 20 percent up from a year earlier following sustained increases between February and October 2023. Across the major markets of Mexico, prices were stable or declined month-on-month, reflecting abundant supplies from the minor season harvest, but prices remained higher year-on-year due to production shortfalls in 2023.

Wholesale prices of red beans rose for the fourth consecutive month in May 2024 in Nicaragua, despite the Apante season harvest in March, reflecting tight supplies from the lower-than-expected 2023 harvest, officially estimated at a below-average level. Rising prices in Nicaragua, the subregion’s major red bean supplier, has placed strong upward pressure on prices in Honduras, where prices rose on average by 9 percent month-on-month in May. By contrast, prices declined in El Salvador due to larger year-on-year imports between January and April 2024. On a year-on-year basis, prices were 12 percent higher in Nicaragua, while they were 8 percent lower in El Salvador and slightly below their year-earlier levels in Honduras.

In Costa Rica, after a short-lived decline in the previous month, wholesale prices of rice rose in May 2024, following the weakening of the national currency, which made imports costlier. Prices were slightly higher than their year-earlier values, as abundant supplies from imports moderated the increase from the significantly lower harvest in 2023. In the Dominican Republic, retail prices of rice (first quality) continued to strengthen, although marginally in May, to levels about 25 percent up from a year earlier, due a 10 percent year-on-year decline in the 2023 paddy outputs.

In Haiti, retail prices of local black beans showed mixed trends, while prices of domestically produced maize meal were steady or weakened in April 2024, with markets supplied with the 2023 third harvests as well as the recently started 2024 main harvests in some regions. In most major markets, prices of imported rice, vegetable oil and wheat flour were stable due to the stability of the national currency in April. Despite reduced operations in the main port of the country, on account of worsening violence, trade activities in northern and southern ports reportedly contributed to market availabilities and hence price stability. In the capital, Port-au-Prince, prices of staple foods remained above their 2024 April levels, as heightened violence hindered supply and access to markets.