Biofuel Prodution to Trigger Corn Shortage in Guatemala

Corn will be scarce in Guatemala in the coming months due to the huge demand in the United States for ethanol production, which is buying and hoarding massive amounts of the grain.

According to Granma newspaper, in the last six months, a bushel of corn (56 pounds), doubled its price on the US market, from $4 to $8 US because ethanol producers consumed 86 million metric tons, 5 million over the figure planned.
Although to date there is no biofuel production using grains in Guatemala, the prices have also begun to increase, up as much as 73 percent.

As a result, many producers believing prices will go even higher are making huge purchases of animal fodder, which will affect the availability of corn for human consumption.

The Meso-American Food Security Early Warning System (MFEWS) alerts that high prices and shortages will affect lower-income families from June to August, when the second harvest of the year has not even begun.

For Dr. Ricardo Navarro, president of the Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technology, this is just the beginning.

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