Leaders of the Ñuble Farmers Association expressed their disappointment over the “late” reaction of the Ministry of Agriculture to the scenario of low wheat prices, following the head of the portfolio announced, on Friday, that the state company Cotrisa will buy wheat this season.
In the session of the National Wheat Commission, -headed by Minister Esteban Valenzuela and the Undersecretary, Ignacia Fernández, and coordinated by the director of Odepa, Andrea García-, the Secretary of State announced that a Cotrisa purchasing power will be opened in Parral in the next few days.
Likewise, regarding the decapitalization of Cotrisa, a key aspect for purchasing wheat, Undersecretary Fernández indicated that “in the framework of the discussions regarding whether or not to intervene with purchasing powers, our conversations bore fruit. A working group was established with Corfo in order to evaluate capital contributions to Cotrisa to activate purchasing powers.”
However, leader Carlos Smith, who represented the Ñuble Farmers Association in the instance, was skeptical regarding the effectiveness of the measure, which he described as “late,” considering that the harvest in the region should conclude on the 15th. February, while Cotrisa has not yet rented the premises to install the wheat purchasing power. He specified that the harvest has already begun in the dry interior, while in the valley and the foothills it is ready to begin.
“We appreciate the effort that Cotrisa is making, but unfortunately it is late, although the minister resents me saying it, and the day they start buying is going to be late, because it is not enough for them to announce, the purchase must be made, and if it still They are looking for a place to store, because they have leased Cotrisa’s own infrastructure, I am waiting to see what day they are going to buy,” Smith commented.
Along these lines, he stated that, if the purchase of wheat is completed, its effect on the market will depend on how much they go out to buy, at what time and from whom they buy, while recalling that the state company is undercapitalized, and would only have $3 billion, a figure that does not even represent 2-3% of national production. “And the mills know what Cotrisa has, so a Cotrisa without capital, without infrastructure, is like a lion without claws,” he explained.
“We ask for an effort”
This week, the Ñuble mills are paying between $220 and $230 per kilo of durum wheat, a figure that, according to Smith, is below production costs, as well as far from $272, which is today the alternative cost of importing wheat. Argentinian.
“What we are asking is that the mills and bakers make an effort to pay us $40 more to stay out of the red zone, in order to reach $260-$270, to be able to cover our costs. If we analyze the bread value chain as a whole, flour and bread have a price that allows us to absorb those $40, because the current price of bread is what it reached when wheat cost $500 two seasons ago, and from there It has stayed at that price and it will surely stay there,” he argued.
He added that, this season “the yields are very bad, the winter and the rainy spring took their toll on the wheat, remember that last year many of us suffered from fires, then we were flooded, it was a very difficult year, that is why we ask that you do an effort so that the chain is not cut, so that producers who are in a complex situation can plant once more in the following season, and Chile maintains the level of production it has and a level of food sovereignty, which we have all been losing the years, today we are producing 50%”
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