Between December 2019 and December 2020, an upward trend in the average price of regional coffee exports was reported, going from $2.72 to $3.14 per kilo.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graphic"]
Between November 2019 and September 2020, an upward trend in the average price of regional coffee exports was reported, going from $2.44 to $3.31 per kilo.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graph"]
Because the grain has not matured with the normal speed, at the end of the second half of December of the 2020-2021 agricultural season, the volume harvested in the country had fallen 23% compared to what was reported at the same date of the 2019-2020 cycle.
According to businessmen of the sector, the delay in the maturation of coffee is mainly because during 2020 in almost all the country the rains arrived late, a phenomenon that interrupted the normal cycle of the grain.
Changes in the points of consumption, increased sales through electronic channels, and more direct relationships between producers and roasters are some of the transformations reported in the coffee market at the regional and global level.
Changes in consumer habits, which were caused by the outbreak of covid-19 and the imposition of severe quarantines, ended up transforming several markets, including the coffee market.
Because of the rains generated in Central American countries by Hurricane Eta, authorities warn that coffee plantations could be threatened by the spread of pests or diseases.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) of El Salvador issued recommendations for coffee growers to avoid the spread of diseases on their farms, such as rust fungus and anthracnose.
Starbucks of Condado Concepción, located on the road to El Salvador, Guatemala, is a sales point that at a distance of 15 minutes by car, has a potential market of more than 150 thousand consumers, and of this group of people 43% are interested in coffee.
Using the Geomarketing solutions we have developed for our clients, CentralAmericaData's Trade Intelligence team analyzed the environment of some of the main coffee shop locations in Central America. Below is an extract of the study's findings.
Due to the global confinement decreed by the covid-19 outbreak, coffee shops, restaurants and tourist establishments reduced the demand for coffee, but increased Internet sales and marketing of the grain in supermarket chains.
Another change that has been reported in the context of the pandemic is the rise in the international price of the quintal of gold coffee, which for the coffee year 2019-2020 stands at $156.48, an amount that is 9% higher than that recorded for the cycle 2018-2019, when it was quoted at $143.90.
From July 27th to 30th, the XXIV International Tasting The Best of Panama will take place virtually, in which 45 producers registered a total of 161 specialty coffee lots.
Laestrella.com.pa reviews that "... The Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP) has completed the registration process and as of June 15 will receive 24,150 pounds of the world's most coveted coffee, which has been carefully selected by producers.
In Costa Rica, the business sector is opposed to a proposed law that would give Icafé the power to impose requirements and controls on the processes of supplying the raw material necessary for grain production.
The increase to $135 of the international price of the quintal is promising for the coffee sector, since in recent years producers have gone through severe crises because of the fall in the price of the grain.
According to figures from Bloomberg Markets, between mid-November and the first week of December the price of a quintal of coffee at the international level registered an important upturn, going from $100 to $135.
For the 2017-2018 season, imported coffee consumed in the country represented 18% of demand, but for the 2018-2019 cycle that proportion increased to 45%, being Nicaragua and Honduras the main suppliers of the grain.
According to statistics from the General Directorate of Customs and compiled by the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafe), for the 2018-2019 cycle in the Costa Rican market were consumed about 526 thousand bags of 46 kilos of coffee, of which 292 thousand were of national production and 234 thousand were purchased abroad.
Partly explained by the exhaustion of soils dedicated to the cultivation of grain, in Costa Rica the 2018-2019 harvest was 1.7 million bags, one of the lowest records of recent decades.
Data from the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafé) specify that between the 2017-2018 season and 2018-2019, production in the country decreased by 276,970 bags of 46 kilograms, falling from 1,991,755 to 1,714,785 bags.
While producers in El Salvador predict that the local crop could be extinct in the next two years because of falling international prices, other countries in the region place grain at more favorable prices.
Each country's realities are different, as there are several differences that are reflected in the amounts exported and in the average prices at which the grain sells abroad.
Although the U.S. is the main buyer of Guatemalan coffee, data from the exporters' guild indicate that South Korea is one of the markets that pays the best prices for the grain, while Italy pays one of the lowest prices.
#Although the main buyer of Guatemalan coffee is the United States, there are indications that Asian countries tend to appreciate Guatemalan coffee more, paying a higher price for it, notes the report "Guatemalan Coffee: A Focus on the World Market and Its Productivity.