While the official inflation data for March is expected this afternoon, which according to economists will be around a 7% rise, statistics show that
food prices had a significant impact
on the evolution of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) last month.
Meat
-a basic product of the Argentine diet-
maintained an upward trend
that began in February because in previous months it had risen below general inflation.
Within the category (meats),
the food that peaked
with the highest increase
was chicken: it became twice as expensive as beef, climbing 31%
and 13.5% respectively.
According to a report from the Center for Political Economy of Argentina (CEPA), in March there was “a heterogeneous impact of the increases in relation to the different beef cuts.
The “expensive cuts” were the ones that increased the most: 14.5%.
On the other hand, the "intermediate" and "economic" cuts showed a rise of 13.9% and 13.1% respectively,
In addition, according to this survey, the rise in prices varied depending on the marketing channel: "Conversely, in the month of February, the average price of beef in supermarkets showed an increase of 18% compared to February, exceeding by more than 5 points the increases of
bovine meat in butcher shops (12.7%)”,
indicates the report.
However, in the gondolas the most economical cuts of Fair Prices apply.
When evaluating the evolution of the price of substitute products for beef,
chicken stood out due to the level of increase.
“It registered a strong increase of 31% in March, (except for February 2023, chicken has had 10 consecutive months with average increases that exceed the average increases of beef)”, he details.
"The indicator that usually represents this process and that links
the evolution of the price of barbecue in relation to the price of chicken,
(the price gap)
shows a drop since the beginning of the year that reaches 2.87% in January 2023, the lowest value of the last two years.
"In February, it resumed an upward curve, reaching 3.57% as a result of the strong increase in beef in relation to chicken and in March it stood at 3.09% due to the increase chicken," explains Hernan Letcher, CEPA economist.
In other words, if one analyzes the number of kilos of fresh chicken that can be bought with one kilo of the most consumed cut of beef, such as roast, it can be seen that roast had revalued strongly in relation to chicken.
The gap between both products reached 4.04 kilograms in December 2021.
This relationship was shortened a year later, reaching a differential of 3.09 in the third month of the year.
"In year-on-year terms, the variations in beef cuts are below the estimated accumulated inflation (102.7%)," Letcher clarifies.
Among other reasons, the price increases
are explained by the reduction in the consumption of bovine meat
in recent years, which has been replaced by other types of cheaper meat, such as poultry or pork.
According to the sectoral report of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries,
per capita consumption of beef stood at 49 kilos
per inhabitant per year in March.
In April, food prices
continued to deepen their upward trend
, with average monthly increases of 7%
, according to consultants.
During the first week of this month, according to the Eco Go surveys, beef rose 1.5%, while substitutes such as
chicken, pork and fish rose -in those few days 2.6%, 4% % and 3.4% respectively.
NS
look too
Dollar today and blue dollar, LIVE: how much is it trading at and what is its price this April 14, minute by minute
They agree on fuel increases of 4% per month from April to August: the super will touch $200