Until September, there was a deficit of 140,000 metric tons in Ecuador, but with the release of new figures, it rose to more than 152,000 tons.
In Ecuador there is a deficit of 152,650 tons of hard yellow corn, taking into account the demand calculation from April 2024 to March 2025.
This was established by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) through an analysis that updated the figures for surface area, yield and production of each production cycle by province and that showed an even greater shortage than that managed until last September.
This update was requested by Minister Danilo Palacios after suspending, at the end of September, an import of 95,000 tons of corn that were approved during a Consultative Council on September 24 in Quito.
Palacios made the decision to temporarily halt imports after farmers in the province of Los Ríos claimed that the figures used to approve the arrival of corn, that is, that there was a deficit of 140,000 metric tons of the grain, were incorrect.
The sector assured that there was no deficit and that there was enough corn to cover the demand of the local industry.
However, after the analysis, the report that arrived on Minister Palacios' desk on October 17 not only confirmed that there is a corn deficit in Ecuador, but that it is even greater than the one the State portfolio presented to producers and industrialists on September 24.
These updated figures led to the ratification of the approved import and the continuation of the process. The corn is expected to arrive in the country at the end of next December and an additional import is also planned for March or April 2025.
How did the MAG arrive at the determination of the deficit of 152,650 tons of corn? Minister Palacios showed the newspaper El Universo the document in which the results of the analysis are presented, which includes the winter and summer production cycles.
According to this report, it was determined that current production in Ecuador is 1,709,475 tons, with a yield of 6.01 tons per hectare, with an area of 284,387 hectares distributed in eight provinces.
The province of El Oro is the largest producer of corn with 770,238 tons of production, and it also has the highest yield per hectare with 6.55 tons per hectare. This province has the largest surface area with 117,557 hectares of crops.
Manabí is the second largest producer of corn with 457,982 tons, followed by Guayas (251,648 t), Loja (164,334), Santa Elena (29,190 t), Sucumbíos (16,481 t), Orellana (12,081) and finally El Oro (7,522 t).
Meanwhile, the province with the lowest yield of tons per hectare is Sucumbíos with 2.47 tons per ha.
The report concluded that the volume available for the industry (net production) is 1,555,622 tons, considering 9% loss (transport, stowage, unstowing, drying).
Added to this offer are 12,293 tons from the province of Esmeraldas.
Regarding the demand for the product, the MAG determined that the industry's requirement is 1,380,000 tons. At the last advisory council held in Guayaquil last Monday, industry representatives assured that there was a corn deficit of at least 200,000 tons.
While the Ministry with its updated figures indicated that the total demand at the national level is 1,720,565 tons of corn, this includes the requirements of the industry and other items such as human consumption, self-consumption, recycled seed, etc.
