El Salvador’s white and yellow corn imports hit record volume through July
El Salvador imported a record 533.24 million kilograms of white and yellow corn between January and July. The United States supplied 95.15% by value, while drought linked to El Niño disrupted planting and increased pressure on domestic supply.
Import volume reaches highest level since 1994
El Salvador imported 533.24 million kilograms of white and yellow corn between January and July, the highest volume recorded for the period since the Central Reserve Bank, or BCR, began keeping the series in 1994. The total was 31.69 million kilograms, or 6.3%, above the 501.54 million kilograms registered in the same period of 2025.
According to El Mundo, the value of these purchases exceeded $144.26 million, an increase of $13.26 million, or 10.12%, from $131 million a year earlier. Import expenditure nevertheless remained below the January-July peak of $163.7 million reached in 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drove inflation higher and raised agricultural input costs.
Average import price rises
The average price paid for white and yellow corn was $0.27 per kilogram, compared with $0.26 in the corresponding period of 2025. Import value therefore rose faster than physical volume, reflecting both larger purchases and a modest increase in the average unit cost.
The BCR figures for white and yellow corn exclude other forms of the grain. When all presentations are included, El Salvador’s corn imports totaled $153.33 million, 7% more than in 2025. Corn ranked as the country’s seventh-largest imported product during the first seven months of the year.
United States strengthens dominant position
The United States supplied corn worth $137.29 million through July, accounting for 95.15% of the value of white and yellow corn imports. Purchases from the country increased by $19.01 million, or 16.07%, compared with the same period of 2025. The figures leave Salvadoran buyers highly exposed to US availability, prices and logistics.
Brazil remained the second-largest supplier with sales of $6.02 million, although purchases fell by 51.9%. Guatemala supplied $834,051 and Mexico $17,902. Andorra entered the BCR records as a corn supplier for the first time, with purchases of $82,465.88 through July. Its share was small, but the transaction widened the formal supplier list.
Drought adds pressure to domestic supply
The import surge coincided with a regional climate emergency associated with El Niño. In El Salvador, the phenomenon caused agricultural losses and prevented producers in the eastern part of the country from starting cultivation after three periods of drought.
For millers, animal-feed users and food distributors, record inflows provide additional raw material as local production faces weather-related disruption. For domestic growers, however, rising import dependence means greater exposure to competition from foreign corn. With 95.15% of import value concentrated in one origin, supplier diversification remains limited despite the first recorded shipment from Andorra and continuing purchases from Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico.
