Cassava/CEPEA: Restricted Supply Drives Prices Up for 5th Consecutive Week

The CEPEA research center at the University of São Paulo reports that the average weekly price of cassava root has seen its fifth consecutive increase. Researchers from CEPEA indicate that this upward trend is primarily due to the restricted supply of raw materials coupled with rising industrial demand. Some producers continue to limit sales because of low profitability, while in other areas, insufficient soil moisture is still hindering harvesting progress. CEPEA data shows that the average price of cassava delivered to starch factories closed at R$ 503.96 per ton last week, marking a 2.5% increase from the previous period. This brings the cumulative increase over the past four weeks to 7.2%. Despite this recent favorable scenario, in nominal terms, last week's average price was still 10.4% lower than that of the same period last year.