MEXICO CITY, MEXICO — Drought conditions will lead Mexico to import between 14 million and 16 million tonnes of yellow corn in 2024, Reuters reported, citing Agriculture Minister Victor Villalobos.

Villalobos, speaking during an online press conference, said imports were “in line with yearly averages” but declined to give a figure for Mexican corn production. He said production in the country’s southeast would help offset the deficit in Chihuahua caused by the drought. He said that it made no difference whether farmers fed livestock white or yellow corn.

As of mid-January, US government data showed that Mexico had scheduled a record 15.3 million tonnes in corn imports for the 2023-24 season, a figure it said would exceed by some 20% the previous record for imports at that point in the season set two years earlier.

Mexico is self-sufficient in white corn production but imports large amounts of yellow corn, mostly from the United States. Accounting for nearly half of US corn sales, Mexico remains the top buyer despite a proposal to curb genetically modified corn imports. If strongly enforced, this could dent US exports.

With corn yields lower than initially expected due to the dry weather, the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture in January reduced its forecast of Mexico’s production in 2023-24 to 25.5 million tonnes, down from 28.1 million tonnes in 2022-23.

On Aug. 17, the United States requested formation of the dispute panel with the Mexican government under the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Chapter of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement to address its complaint that Mexico’s ban on genetically modified corn violates the free-trade deal.