According to Investing.com data and figures provided by the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafe), during coffee year 2011-2012 the average value of a 46 kg bag of coffee on the New York Market was $198.12 and the average price of Costa Rican exports was $222.76, reflecting a difference of $24.64.

Five years later that difference was doubled, given that for the 2016-2017 harvest the market value was $139.64 and the average price of exports was $194.03, which implies a difference of $54.39 for each 46-kilo bag.

See "Coffee: Still "Gold" in Central America?"

On the other hand, Xinia Chaves, executive director of Icafe, said to Nacion.com that for 2018 "... The average difference obtained by Costa Rican coffee is close to $70 per quintal (the total average price is $190 per quintal), while Guatemala and Colombia have a difference close to $25 per 46 kilos and the other Central Americans (El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua) do not exceed $10 per quintal".

Chaves considers that the increase in the price difference "... Reflects the positive results of a marketing strategy for Costa Rican coffee beans and the quality obtained throughout the chain, from cultivation to processing or grinding in some cases."

According to reports from CentralAmericaData, in the last six years the average export price of Central American coffee has fallen, decreasing the price per kilo from $4.51 in March 2012 to $3.10 in the same month in 2018.

Source: Nacion.com

More on this topic

Coffee: Export falls 9% up to 1st Semester 2018

December 2018

During the first six months of the year, coffee exports from Central American countries totaled $1,948 million, 9% less than what was reported in the same period in 2017.

Figures from the information system on the coffee market in Central America complied by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]

Negative Expectations for Honduran Coffee

June 2018

The sector union foresees that for the 2017-2018 harvest foreign currency generated from sales abroad will fall by 14% with respect to the previous season.

Explained by a drop in the average price per hundredweight of exports, which fell from $145 in the 2016-2017 season to $123 so far in the current harvest, the Honduran Coffee Institute (Ihcafé) envisages a 14% decrease in income from sales abroad.

Honduras: Coffee Sales Still Falling

May 2018

Up until April 30, the export value of the current 2017/18 harvest was $680 million, 13% less than was reported on the same date in the 2016-2017 cycle.

According to figures from the Honduran Coffee Institute, the registered decrease is due to the fact that " ... The average export price per hundredweight to date is $122.74, compared to the average price of 2016-2017 of $145.26, down 16%. "

Honduran Coffee in Numbers

March 2018

Up until March 5, the volume exported from the current 2017/18 harvest amounted to 3.6 million bags, 17% more than was reported on the same date of the 2016-2017 cycle.

According to figures from the Honduran Coffee Institute (Ihcafe), the value of sales of the grain abroad showed a behavior contrary to the volume exported. "...The value of exports is $446.5 million, showing a decrease of 1% compared to $450.5 million."