2024-05-07 10:38:45
The dairy industry in Colombia faces a significant crisis due to economic challenges that affect the profitability of ranchers and milk producers. Hernando Molina, president of the Filandia Dairy Association (Asoproagro), expressed his concern about the discrepancy between production costs and dairy sales prices, which has led several producers to consider abandoning the activity due to the lack of cost effectiveness.
According to Molina, the costs to produce a liter of milk range between 1,800 and 1,900 pesos, while the purchase price by marketers is only $1,600. This situation is aggravated by the high cost of agricultural inputs and the lack of control over prices and intermediation in the marketing chain.
To address this problem, Fedegan has activated a $4 billion fund through the Price Stabilization Fund, with the aim of economically supporting the Colombian dairy sector. This fund seeks to stabilize or adequately compensate the price of dairy products traded on the Colombian Mercantile Exchange (BMC), including powdered milk, mature cheeses, fresh cheeses and UHT milk.
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Augusto Beltrán Segrera, technical secretary of the Stabilization Fund for the Promotion of the Exportation of Meat, Milk and its Derivatives (FEP), explained that this fund will be valid until December 31, 2024 or until the resources are exhausted. The initiative seeks to guarantee that producers continue selling their production to the industry and that the industry, in turn, can sell its products through the BMC, thus activating a price stabilization mechanism.
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To access this compensation, companies must meet requirements such as selling national dairy products, not importing dairy derivatives, paying the Livestock and Dairy Promotion Fee, and adhering to the resolution of the Ministry of Agriculture on the price of raw milk paid to farmers. producers. Beltrán Segrera stated that this measure will favor the country’s dairy production and protect the remunerative income of producers in this important sector of the national economy.