An increase of 24 cents per box for freight expenses has sent costs for shrimp producers in Honduras soaring.
An increase of 24 cents per kilometer for each box transported, approved by a legislative decree recently, will seriously impact the competitiveness of Honduran shrimp producers with respect to other regional countries, signaled
employers in the sector.
The country sold $4,578 million worth of goods abroad in the first 5 months of the year, 26.8% more than in the same period in 2010.
According to officials from the Bank of Guatemala, the increase is mainly explained by the increase in the price of commodities, especially sugar, bananas, coffee and cardamom oil.
In general, higher export volumes were also reported, sugar being the main exception, due to lower production.
Foreign sales grew by 28% in the first quarter compared to the same period of 2010.
The high prices of commodities in international markets is one reason behind the increase in exports in Guatemala.
In total, the country exported more than $2700 million in the first three months of the year. In the case of traditional products such as sugar, bananas, coffee and cardamom, the increase was 33%, making total sales more than $954.9 million.
In the first five months of the year, Honduran exports of non-traditional products totaled $575 million.
According to the Honduran Central Bank's Foreign Trade Report, sales of non-traditional products totaled $1.27 billion in the period.
The general manager of the country's Federation of Agricultural Exporters (FPX) told Laprensa.hn that, "it's good news because it's important for Honduras to export more non-traditional products than coffee and bananas since prices of these fluctuate and non-traditional industries have historically had a buffering effect. However it is hoped that these products can increasingly take a more central role".
Exports of nontraditional products are growing at a faster pace than exports of traditional ones (coffee, banana, cardamom and sugar).
In 2009 total exports summed $7.23 billion. Of them, $5.41 billion corresponded to nontraditional goods (74.9%).
“Data from Banguat shows that in 1980 the country exported $1.52 billion, of which $633 million were traditional goods and $886.4 million were nontraditional ones (58.3%)”, reported Sigloxxi.com.
Honduras exported $2.32 billion in 2009; 55.7% corresponded to non traditional exports.
According to data from the Central Bank of Honduras (BCH), the remaining $1.29 billion correspond to products classified as 'traditional' (coffee and banana, for example).
"The drop recorded in coffee, banana, wood, lobsters, zinc, silver and lead was compensated with increases in gold, cultivated shrimp, melons and cigarettes", reported Laprensa.hn.
Ethnic beverages, tiger nut milk and barley will now pay a 9% tariff when entering the United States.
Until last year, these products entered the country tariff-free.
"The Department of Internal Security analyzed the products and removed the tariff exoneration, arguing they are in the category of powder drinks with more than 29% sugar. They also warned to retroactively charge the tariff beginning 2007", reports Elsalvador.com.
Within Central America, the country is the leader with 800 planted hectares.
Rambutan, also known as "mamón chino" in Spanish, is exported to Nicaragua, El Salvador, and, to a lesser extent, the United States.
From Elfinancierocr.com: "The U.S. pays better prices and demands higher quality regarding size, appearance, sweetness (degrees brix), and for the pulp separates easily from the seed. Prices fluctuate between $4 and $7 per kilogram."
As of May 2009, registered exports were $1.6 Billion, $306 million less than the same period in 2008.
2008 was a year of record growth in the export sector in El Salvador, with an increase of 14%. However, the Central Reserve Bank (BCR, acronym in Spanish) forecasts a contraction of 15% in exports by the end of 2009.
According to preliminary data from BCR published in an article by Irene Valiente on Laprensagrafica.com, “The traditional products (coffee, sugar, shrimp) have felt a decline of 10.9% annually, equivalent to $194.7 million. The reductions were in both value and in volume.”
The non-traditional products sector closed 2008 with $2.9 billion in exports.
According to the article published by the Prensa Libre daily, "...the chemical subsector is in first place with $900 million in exports, followed by food at $275 million, and construction materials at $208 million and then plastics at $138.4 million."
It is expected that in 2009 Guatemala will have many opportunities to get low volume order in specialized markets, especially in Mexico and the United States.