Overview

For individuals or firms interested in exporting agricultural or food products to the DR, please be aware that there is an office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) located in the U.S. Embassy, Santo Domingo. Contact information for the FAS Office is as follows:

USDA-Foreign Agricultural Affairs

U.S. Embassy

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Phone: (809) 368-7741

E-mail: Agsantodomingo@fas.usda.gov

USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Website

In addition, FAS publishes an annual Exporter Guide providing more detailed information on the structure and dynamics of the Dominican food and agricultural market.  The 2022 Exporter Guide Report is available here.

Wheat

Unit: Millions of U.S. dollars

Sources: Unofficial estimate by FAS based on industry and U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division; DR Customs; Trade Data Monitor.

Wheat consumption in the DR during calendar year (CY) 2022 reached $227 million.  The increase is due to the recovery of Dominican exports of flour and baked goods, as well as the recovery in the number of tourists visiting the country after the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hotel, restaurant and institutional (HRI) sector. 

Exports of wheat flour and products manufactured in the DR increased during CY 2022 driven by increased demand of wheat products from Haiti; where civil unrest has caused operational challenges for their own wheat milling industry. While the U.S. market share is stable, the United States faces increased competition from Canada in the local market. Historically, Canada has provided wheat to the Dominican market in years of overproduction.  However, during recent years, Canada has been regularly supplying Dominican millers. Under the right price conditions, local millers cite a preference for Canadian wheat due to prices and higher protein content. 

Opportunities

Product quality, geographic proximity, and price, in addition to market support and technical assistance efforts, such as the ones provided by the U.S. Wheat Associates, will assure continued U.S. presence in the Dominican market. As a basic food item utilized for bread and pasta production, wheat is exempted from import taxes.  However, given the increase in international wheat prices, wheat imports from the United States may continue to face competition in the short term.

Resources

The U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service Santo Domingo agricultural specialist covering the grain sector is Virgilio Mayol, virgilio.mayol@usda.gov.

Soybean Meal

Unit: Millions of U.S. dollars

Sources: Unofficial estimate by FAS based on industry and U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division; Trade Data Monitor.

During CY 2022, the DR imported 457,932 MT ($238 million) of soybean meal. The United States supplied 100 percent of that total.  Soybean meal is used mainly in feed formulation for poultry and swine.  The market is dependent on the poultry sector, which consumes about 70 percent of all feed ingredient imports. The swine and cattle sector consume 20 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Although imports of soybean meal decreased slightly during CY 2022 due to the impact of the African Swine Fever (ASF) on diminishing domestic pork production, during CY 2023 increased production of poultry is expected to offset that decrease. The United States has historically dominated the soybean meal market in the DR. However, during the last two years, Brazil has started to access the local market with small quantities of soybean meal exports and also soybeans.  

Opportunities

Product quality, geographic proximity, and price, in addition to market support and technical assistance from the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), will assure continued presence of U.S. soybean meal in the Dominican market.  In addition, as a basic feed item for the poultry, swine, and dairy sectors, soybean meal is exempted from import taxes.

Resources

The U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service Santo Domingo agricultural specialist covering the oilseeds sector is Virgilio Mayol, virgilio.mayol@usda.gov.

Corn

Unit: Millions of U.S. dollars

Sources: Unofficial estimate by FAS based on industry and U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division; DR Customs; Trade Data Monitor.

The United States continues to be a strong commercial partner for the corn market in Dominican Republic. During the last four years, the United States has averaged over 35 percent market share with a peak of 40 percent in CY 2022.  Persistent complaints concerning dust levels, presence of mycotoxins, grain cracking, availability, shipping challenges, and relatively higher prices have led many importers to source South American supplies, specifically from Brazil and Argentina.  During CY 2022, the DR imported a total of 1.3 million MT of corn.  Brazil supplied 57 percent of that total, followed by the United States with 40 percent, and Argentina with 8 percent. In terms of volume, demand for corn, a prime ingredient for animal feed, decreased slightly (6 percent). The reduction in demand is explained by the impact of ASF over the local swine industry. 

Opportunities

Product quality, geographic proximity, and price, in addition to U.S. industry support and technical assistance, will assure U.S. presence in the Dominican market. Coarse grain quality is expected to improve and, as corn is a basic feed item for the poultry, swine, and dairy sectors, it remains exempt from import taxes.

Resources

The U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service Santo Domingo agricultural specialist covering the grain sector is Virgilio Mayol, virgilio.mayol@usda.gov.

Consumer-Oriented Products Agricultural Products

Unit: Millions of U.S. dollars - Source: Trade Data Monitor

Imported consumer-oriented food products, especially those from the United States, are seen as high-quality products. The demand for these products is high and the U.S. market share for these items is approximately 47 percent. Currently, the major competitor in this group of products is the European Union. The HRI sector continues to grow strongly, increasingly serving Dominicans as well as tourists. Leading U.S. products for distribution in hotels and restaurants include pork, premium red meat cuts, poultry parts, cheeses, wine, frozen potatoes and vegetables, fresh fruit, and seafood. However, most all-inclusive resorts are owned by Spanish companies, which leads to heavy sourcing of Spanish and other European food and beverage items.

The Dominican modern retail sector offers a wide variety of U.S. products. It is dominated by locally owned companies and is growing rapidly. However, despite the prominence and growth of local supermarket chains, they only account for 20-25 percent of retail sales. The majority of sales are still in the traditional channel, which includes neighborhood stores (colmados and colmadones) and warehouses, which offers largely local products. Also, the rapid increase of modern gas stations is important, since many are becoming a place for purchasing various U.S. imported snacks, beverages, and fast food throughout the country. This is especially true in the east, where arrival of tourists has reached record levels.

During 2022, the demand for consumer-oriented products increased 18.8 percent.

Opportunities

Demand for consumer-oriented products is expected to increase in the medium-term due to the growth in the tourism, HRI, and retail sectors, and continued economic growth.

Resources

The U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service Santo Domingo marketing specialist covering the consumer-oriented products sector is Melqui Luperón, melchicedec.luperon@usda.gov

Dairy Products

Overview

Table 5: Total Market Size for Diary Products: 2019-2022

Unit: Millions of U.S. dollars

Sources: Unofficial estimate by FAS based on industry and U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division; DR Customs; Trade Data Monitor.

While the DR’s dairy sector is an important source of local employment, it is not able to supply the full range of dairy products consumed domestically, especially in the growing HRI sector.  From 2019 to 2022, the DR’s overall imports of dairy products increased approximately by 25 percent to $430 million. During this period, the United States had an average share of total imports of 30 percent, while the EU has dominated the market with a 50 percent share.  However, CAFTA-DR has opened opportunities for U.S. dairy products to enter the DR market.

The DR’s large and growing tourism industry demands high value food products, including cheese. In addition, there is a growing number of consumers demanding higher quality and healthier products, and they generally perceive that U.S. products meet these requirements.

During 2021, with the DR lifting all restrictions related to the COVID-19, local demand for dairy products rebounded, increasing both local production and U.S. and EU exports to the market.

Opportunities

Duties on U.S. dairy products exported to the DR are being phased out under the CAFTA-DR agreement. Tariffs and quotas for fluid milk, butter, fresh cheese, cottage cheese, curd and soft cheese were eliminated beginning in 2015 and for ice cream in 2016.  Tariffs and quotas for cheddar cheese were eliminated in 2020, and both tariffs and quotas for mozzarella cheese, powdered milk, and yogurt will be eliminated in 2025.

Resources

The U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service Santo Domingo specialist covering the dairy sector is Virgilio Mayol, virgilio.mayol@usda.gov.

Rice

Unit: Millions of U.S. dollars

Sources: Central Bank; ONE Export Database; Unofficial estimate by FAS on industry; U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division; Trade Data Monitor.

Rice is one of the most important agricultural products in the country.  The country is self-sufficient in rice production, although this self-sufficiency is based on governmental support through programs such as the Pledge Program (Programa de Pignoración) and various measures that limit rice imports. These measures continue to limit the volume of U.S. rice that could potentially compete in the local market. Under the CAFTA-DR, tariff rates for rice started to decrease during 2016 and will be phased out by 2025. The current import tariff rate for U.S. rice is 23.8 percent.

Opportunities

Rice is a basic food item in the Dominican diet.  As CAFTA-DR is in full effect, the tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for rice will assure a small U.S. presence in the Dominican market with an increasing amount every year until the phase out period ends in 2025.

Resources

The U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service Santo Domingo agricultural specialist covering the rice sector is Virgilio Mayol, virgilio.mayol@usda.gov.

Pulses and Dried Beans

Unit: Millions of U.S. dollars

Sources: Central Bank; ONE Export Database; Unofficial estimate by FAS on industry; U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division; Trade Data Monitor.

Pinto beans are a basic staple in the Dominican diet and domestic production alone cannot meet demand.  In recent years, worldwide dried bean imports to the Dominican Republic have averaged more than 49,000 MT per year, reaching an estimated value of $55 million in 2022, due to production shortfalls.  Most dried bean imports into the Dominican Republic come from U.S. ports located in the Gulf of Mexico, and some are transshipped from the Midwestern United States through Canada. 

The Dominican market prefers North American pinto beans to the South American variety due to quality, phytosanitary standards, geographic proximity, and price.  Continued U.S. presence in this market is assured with CAFTA-DR providing a free trade market and the current domestic production shortfall.

Web Resources

The U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service Santo Domingo agricultural specialist covering the dry beans sector is Virgilio Mayol, virgilio.mayol@usda.gov.