Rising global costs threaten Mexico's production costs and food stability

Staples sold at a wholesale market in Nuevo Leon, including tomatoes, potatoes, beef, and chillies, have risen sharply in recent weeks. Customers are changing shopping habits and tightening budgets as vendors cut profit margins or risk losing customers. Shop owners cite higher fuel prices, high agricultural costs, and increased extortion and theft on highways. Global fuel and fertiliser costs linked to shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are affecting Mexican producers and threatening a stable food supply, especially for low-income residents. Low-income households spend nearly 70 percent of earnings on food, leaving little room for nutrition and other needs. National inflation reached 4.45 percent over 12 months, while the urban basic food basket rose 8.1 percent in March. Households are rationing purchases and buying only necessities each week.

"Staples like tomatoes, potatoes, beef, and chillies have seen steep price hikes in the last few weeks, forcing customers to change their shopping habits and tighten budgets, while vendors cut profit margins or risk losing customers. You have to buy them anyway; they're things you use daily, said Cesar Ramirez, a 66-year-old retiree at the market."

"While shop owners cite rising fuel prices, high costs in the agricultural sector, and growing extortion and theft on Mexico's highways, international pressures are mounting. Rising global costs of fuel and fertiliser, driven by shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, are impacting Mexican producers and threatening a stable food supply, especially for low-income residents."

"Elvira Pasillas, professor at the Western Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESO), noted that low-income households spend nearly 70 percent of their earnings on food. Not only are they struggling to meet minimum nutritional requirements, but they are also spending almost all of their income on food, she added."

"Guillermina Delgado, a 62-year-old housewife, said she has begun rationing her shopping, buying only what is strictly necessary each week. There's not one single thing that is cheap any more, she said. When possible, she visits the Mercado de Abastos. Delgado also cares for her mother, increasing the financial strain on her husband, a construction worker and the family's so"

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