From tortillas to cornbread, some of your favorite corn-based dishes could go up in price late this summer because corn prices have been rising — up about 50% this year.
Roberto Aguilar, editorial director for Forbes México, told CNN that higher corn prices have contributed to a price increase for tortillas. CNN reported that some zones in Mexico are nearing $1 per kilogram of corn tortilla — last year, the national prices hovered between 48 cents and 89 cents.
An ear of corn could make around 10 small tortillas.
“If it grows in soil, chances are prices are skyrocketing,” says Ed Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, a trading, currency data and analytics solutions firm. ”Corn, wheat, soybeans and even lumber prices are surging higher, and that should spell trouble in the coming months for the U.S. consumer.”
Moya, says American consumers “should brace for higher prices” on corn-based products and that businesses won’t hesitate to pass the increases on to consumers.
“Americans should definitely expect an eventual rise in prices later in the year,” Moya says. “The surge with grain prices should not immediately be visible at supermarkets since retailers absorb the initial increase. Eventually, the margin pressure will be too big, and, probably at some point late in the summer, Americans will start to take notice to some increases on grocery shelves.”
Corn is the United States’ biggest cash crop.
