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Quinoa: early harvest in Paraguay

July 11, 2023 at 4:54 PM , Der AUDITOR
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LIMA/SUCRE. According to market players, quinoa production in Peru was lower than expected. In Paraguay, however, farmers were able to start harvesting earlier than planned.

Challenges in the quinoa market

The quinoa market has been marked by various challenges this year. Already in spring, the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture had forecast that the quinoa crop would decline by 25-30% due to sowing delays, water shortages and less use of fertiliser. The experts at Chelmer Foods now report that the production result was even lower than previously assumed, due to the early drought there would be a higher proportion of impurities and rejects in the goods.

In Bolivia, too, there has been a drop in yields, but growers here are still holding on to their stocks in order to achieve better prices. This contrasts with the reports from Paraguay. Here, farmers were able to start harvesting earlier than planned and so far yields are promising. Mixed quinoa from Peru is available for USD 2.23/kg FOB Callao and export prices for white quinoa from South America are currently at a level of USD 2.15/kg CIF Hamburg.

Quinoa

Type

USD/mt

White, South America, CIF Hamburg

2,150

Mixed, Peru, FOB Callao

2,230

Trade sources

Germany halves imports

Germany imported a total of 2,430 mt of quinoa between September 2022 and April 2023, just over half of what was imported in the same period the previous year. Lower crops and higher prices resulted in a declining import volume. Shipments from the main growing countries Bolivia (-25% to 1,308 mt) and Peru (-65% 839 mt) were significantly lower and imports from countries such as the Netherlands (-45% to 119 mt), Italy (-2% to 84 mt) and Spain (-47% to 16 mt) were also down.

Quinoa* imports, Germany, in mt

Supplier

2021/22

2022/23

Diff.

Bolivia

1,732

1,308

-24.5%

Peru

2,375

839

-64.7%

Netherlands

216

119

-44.9%

Italy

86

84

-2.3%

Spain

30

16

-46.7%

Ecuador

41

11

-73.2%

El Salvador

61

0

-100.0%

Others

127

53

-58.3%

Total

4,668

2,430

-47.9%

Federal Statistical Office of Germany / Sep-Apr

*10085000 Quinoa, “Chenopodium, quinoa”

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