Because producer prices are much higher than they are now, inflation rising costs, Last September, the regional economy faced a new deterioration.. By creating a traffic light for the local economy. Koninagro Loss-making businesses increase and profit margins declinein a situation where price lags and cost increases hit producers.
“During September 2025, the regional economic traffic light recorded 5 activities in green, 8 in yellow and 6 in red. Compared to the previous month, there was an improvement as two activities changed categories, highlighting the cases of cotton, pears and apples, which showed a decrease.” I focused on the substance.
Research shows a recurring phenomenon in many locations within the interior. “The prices producers receive have lagged behind inflation and cost increases, severely impacting profitability.” Add to this the tax pressures, lack of available financing, reduced domestic consumption, etc. In some regions, rising logistics and energy costs are having a major impact on labor-intensive activities such as fruit growing and horticulture.
According to Koninagro, “red activities are yerba mate, rice, potatoes, wine and must, vegetables and, starting this month, cotton.”
in the case of cottondeterioration responds to a combination of factors. The entity was explained as follows Producer prices rose only 10% year-on-year, well below inflation. Production has decreased by 15% since the previous campaign, but acreage expansion is expected in 2025/26. In addition, foreign trade has also worsened, with exports falling by 12% and imports increasing by 119% in the past 12 months, reducing competitiveness and leading to a move into the red, he said.
he rice The situation remains critical. Despite a 23% increase in production, prices remained at $200,000 per tonne, representing an effective 50% drop compared to August 2024, Koninagro said. in fatherthe kilos paid to producers were $279, a 27% month-on-month decline and a 59% real year-on-year decline, one of the worst in the entire series.
Meanwhile, wine production continues to be in the red. “The average price paid to producers was $306 per liter, which represents a 1% month-on-month increase and a real year-on-year decrease of 19%,” he explained. field of vegetablesMeanwhile, producer prices fell 3% year-on-year, exports fell 23% and imports fell 44%.
Another activity that showed a decline was pear and applewent from green to yellow. The report states, “Producer prices fell by 10% each month, with a year-on-year increase of only 2%, well below the inflation rate (31.8%).” Although “production increased and exports increased by 51%,” falling real incomes and rising imports “weakened the business component, which explains the decline from green to yellow.”
in contrast, dairy productsis still yellow but shows more balanced signs. Although producer prices remained at $476 per liter and year-on-year growth was 11%, slower than inflation, production increased by 7% and exports increased by 93%. of sweet citrusRegions also in yellow benefited from 50% year-on-year price increases and 291% increase in exports, outpacing inflation.
With these changes, green activities include: Cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep, grains. Mr. Koninagro said business components are showing sustained improvement as prices remain above inflation in these areas. Added to this are strong production and market performance. ”
for example, grainprices rose 50% year-on-year, outpacing the inflation rate of 31.8%, and exports increased 93%. in cattlesteer prices were $3,132 and calf prices were $3,300, up 45% from a year ago and also outpacing inflation.
Yellow indicates “the remaining eight activities: forestry, honey, peanuts, milk, tobacco, sweet citrus, cassava, pears and apples. These economies have shown neither significant improvement nor deterioration in the three components assessed,” the report shows.
The report also analyzed the regional economy’s external trade. The export value from January to September 2025 is: 43.3 billion USD, 60% or more than the historical average. but, 77% of the income came from the breadbasket. A further 9% is from the cattle sector, indicating a strong concentration. Other activities accounted for only 15% of the total. Imported products were added around the same time. 2.3 billion USDmainly from the grain complex (73%), followed by forestry (9%), pork (4%) and cotton (3%).
Looking ahead to the coming months, the report paints an uneven map. Sectors with strong international prices and more stable costs, such as grains and meat, have managed to hold on, while other regional economies, which are more labor-intensive and dependent on domestic markets, have struggled. their profitability suffers.
In this regard, Mr. Koninagro warned that “the true competitiveness of regional economies depends on internal costs and backwardness of producer prices,” and reiterated the need to: Improve infrastructure, reduce tax burdens and promote differentiated policies This is to prevent the situation from worsening in rural areas.
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