Wholesale prices of white maize showed mixed trends across the subregion in June 2024. In Guatemala, prices were stable month‑on‑month as downward pressure from adequate market supplies were offset by an increase in transport costs at the end of June, due to logistical difficulties caused by flooding. Prices were stable or strengthened in the two major markets in Honduras. In El Salvador, following declines in the past few months, prices rose moderately in June, supported by lower year-on-year imports in May 2024. By contrast, prices declined in Nicaragua, by 5 percent month-on-month in June after a short-lived increase in the preceding two months. White maize prices were down by more than 20 percent from a year earlier in El Salvador and Honduras, and were around 8 percent below their year-earlier levels in Guatemala and Nicaragua, due to year-on-year larger imports and lower input costs.

In most markets of Mexico, wholesale prices of white maize declined by between 10 and 20 percent month-on-month in June 2024. This sharp drop reflects improved market supplies from the ongoing minor season harvest as well as larger year-on-year imports in the first five months of the year. The exception was Guadalajara (Jalisco State) market, where prices rose moderately for the second consecutive month in June due to tight supplies from the past two dryness-affected seasons as well as unfavourable production prospects for the ongoing 2024 main season, on account of soil moisture deficits. In June, prices were below their year-earlier levels in the capital, Mexico City, chiefly reflecting large imports between January and May 2024 and lower year-on-year international prices.

Wholesale prices of black beans rose moderately for the fourth consecutive month in June in Guatemala, in line with seasonal trends, exacerbated by lower year-on-year supplies from the 2023 harvests. Prices remained 15 percent up from a year earlier following sustained increases between February and October 2023. Across the major markets of Mexico, where the official forecast points to a rebound in area sown for the current main bean crop, wholesale prices of black beans showed mixed trends and remained higher year-on-year due to production shortfalls in 2023.

Wholesale prices of red beans declined in Nicaragua in June, for the first time in four months and by 15 percent on a monthly basis, amid recent weakening of import demand from neighbouring countries. Following this sharp decline, prices in June 2024 were 11 percent below their year-earlier levels. Wholesale prices remained unchanged in El Salvador, while they declined moderately in Honduras, reflecting adequate market supplies. In both countries, prices were 15 percent lower year-on-year in June.

In Costa Rica, wholesale prices of rice rose for the second consecutive month in June, following the weakening of the national currency, which made imports costlier. Prices were 8 percent above their year-earlier values, reflecting a significant decline in the 2023 harvest and lower year-on-year imports in the first four months of 2024. In the Dominican Republic, retail prices of rice (first quality) continued to strengthen marginally in June, despite a year-on-year increase in harvests attained between January and April 2024. Prices in June reached levels 28 percent up from a year earlier, supported by a decline in the 2023 output and higher international prices.

In Haiti, retail prices of domestically produced maize meal and black beans were largely steady in May 2024, reflecting an improved security situation, although market operations were reportedly constrained by continued gang violence in Port-au-Prince. Prices of imported rice, vegetable oil and wheat flour were stable due to the stability in the national currency in May. However, prices of imported rice were higher year-on-year in most markets due to reduced imports in the first four months of 2024 and elevated international quotations.