Exporters warn that the proposal to retain $5 for every three or four pounds of exportable quintal will reduce competitiveness and encourage smuggling.
The bill introduced in Congress days ago cites the retention of $5 for every three or four pounds of exportable quintal in order to constitute a fund to support coffee growers affected by rust. Exporters believe that this measure will only encourage more smuggling and reduce the product's competitiveness internationally.
The contribution of $9 per quintal to be made by coffee producers to the trust has been accepted by some and rejected by others.
Arguing that the retention of $9 per quintal is not beneficial for producers, two deputies have submitted a draft law that seeks to eliminate it.
The proposal "has caused discrepancies between those involved in this area, as many agree with it, and there is a good percentage that do not approve of the initiative."
During the first ten months of the 2012-13 crop, coffee sales fell by 41.4% in currencies and 15.6% in volume.
According to the manager of the Honduran Coffee Institute (Ihcafé), Victor Hugo Molina, coffee exports between October 2012 and July 2013 were $763.8 million, whereas last season revenues were reported of $1,034 million.
In terms of the volume exported during the period, 5.4 million quintals of grain were sold, a decrease of 15.5% compared to the previous cycle, when the amount was 6.4 million.
During the first half of the 2012-13 cycle, Honduran coffee exports generated $420 million in foreign exchange.
According to Victor Hugo Molina, manager of the Honduran Coffee Institute (Ihcafé), the volume of exports achieved was 2.9 million quintals, which represents 50% of what it expects to sell during 2013.
"The foreign exchange earned makes the coffee the country's main export," said Molina.
$300 million will be required for pest control alone, and more than $1 billion to renovate the plantations that have been affected.
The figures which have been gathered unofficially indicated that in excess of 1.7 million quintals of coffee have been destroyed by the fungus known as rust in Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.
The president of the Coffee Exporters Association of Honduras (Adecafeh), Omar Acosta says that the loss in Honduras could reach two million quintals, "The Ihcafé says that no damage has been done, butwe do not understand why they are lying. They should have a plan for the country because it is a serious problem, we all know that there is a strong impact from rust and we believe there is a damage of between 25% and 30% of the crop, which amounts to two million quintals. "
To date exports have totaled 6.6 million bags (weighing 46 kilos), 35% more than in the same period of the previous harvest when exports amounted to 4.9 million bags.
The figures are even more encouraging considering that the total exports so far have exceeded the goal for this year of 5.4 million bags, according to information as at August 7, 2012, from the Honduran Coffee Institute (Ihcafe) .
In the first nine months of the current coffee harvest, the country has exported 5.8 million quintals, up 23.4% when compared to the same period in last harvest.
In value terms the increase was 6.37%, or $1,218 million compared to the $1,145 from the last harvest.
The manager of the Honduran Coffee Institute (IHCAFE), Victor Hugo Molina, said the increase is due to "better farm management practices and better land cultivation".
Coffee growers are counting on the production of more than 100 million quintals of top quality grain this harvest.
"Specialty coffee harvests are getting bigger and bigger. In this period we will have a good number of bags to serve such markets. We believe that exports will rise more than 100 million quintals", said Asterio Reyes, president of Ihcafé (the Honduran Coffee Institute) to Laprensa.hn.
Producers are having trouble handling the increasing volume of crops, because of lack of space and infrastructure for drying grain.
The Honduran coffee producers in Marcala, the mountainous western part of Honduras, have been facing serious problems in dealing with high volumes of production, which has doubled in the last 10 years.
Given the enormous amount of grains there is not have enough room to dry them all and prevent fermentation.
Honduras will sponsor an international event to be held in Portland, Oregon, USA between 19th and 22nd April.
The Specialty Coffee Fair of America will take place from this Thursday until April 22nd in Portland, Oregon, United States, and Honduras is the main sponsor of the event.
The manager of the Honduran Coffee Institute (Ihcafe), Victor Hugo Molina, told Efe that his country hopes to promote the different varieties and quality of their grain. At the fair coffee cafes, shoppers and researchers from all over the world converge, and the meeting is an opportunity for Honduran producers to conduct "the largest number of appointments and meetings" to agree on business.
Representatives of BP Commerce will arrive in the country on Jan. 31st to explore the possibility of doing business with domestic producers.
Victor Hugo Molina, manager of the Honduran Coffee Institute said that the businessmen will remain in the country until February 3rd , during which time they will tour various coffee cooperatives.
"Currently, Korea buys 237,000 quintals of coffee a year from Honduras, and ‘with this visit we believe that exports could increase, depending on the agreements reached with the producers’, said Molina.
The 2011-2012 coffee crop in Honduras could double last seasons, but runs the risk of being spoiled before it can be collected in its entirety due to lack of workers.
With crops already ripened, 200,000 workers are needed to join the 800,000 who already are working, in order to collect the whole crop.
Coffee production has improved as a result of better technical management, and the current crop may well set a record, but if more collectors are not found, the crop runs the risk of going over its optimum ripeness, and being ruined.
Estimates for this season are that 4.5 million quintals of the grain will be sold, exceeding the record high of 4.1 quintals.
An increase in production and high international prices are two of the main reasons behind the growth of coffee exports.
In addition, the benevolence of the weather in recent months has also benefited the sector, which has covered some of the demand that would normally be served by coffee producing countries such as Colombia and Brazil, which have been influenced by bad weather that affected usual production levels..
The 2010-2011 harvest volume makes the country the sixth largest coffee producer, and the first among Central American countries.
A rise of 25% in exports in the previous 2010-2011 harvest, has placed the country among the top ten exporters of the grain, according to preliminary figures from the International Coffee Organization (ICO). The list is headed by Brazil, followed by Vietnam, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Honduras, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Peru and Uganda.