In Guatemala the union of producers has stated that a reduction in international prices is affecting the sector, which is already facing difficulties in covering production costs.
The National Coffee Association attributes the problem to international consortia, which may be exerting further downward pressure on grain prices.They warn that this situation will have a strong impact on the national economy, because with current prices, producers are not even able to cover their costs.
Guatemalan coffee growers are warning that if the country does not adhere to the agreement signed between Central America and the Asian country, they will lose market share and will have to compete with their peers in the region under unequal conditions.
Representatives from the National Association of Coffee Growers (Anacafé) insist that the government sign the agreement that the other countries of the region have already signed with South Korea, arguing that they will lose out on the advantage they have achieved in recent years.According to coffee farmers, 23% of coffee exports go to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China.
With 30 days left until the end of the 2013/2014 harvest, sales from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Costa Rica are lower than in the previous crop by 56%, 12%, 15% and 10%, respectively.
South American producers in Colombia and Peru were the only ones who achieved positive results in sales of the current crop, with growth in the harvest in respect to 2012/2013 of 22% and 5.5%, respectively.
During the past eleven months of this harvest, the combined exports of the group of 9 Latin American countries, not including Brazil, rose by 11.82%.
The total exports from Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Peru and the Dominican Republic, between October 2010 and August 2011 was 24,652,694 bags of 60 kilos each, according to data from the National Coffee Association of Guatemala (ANACAFE).
The combined exports of the 9 Latin American countries have increased by 18.5% in the first eight months of the current crop.
Sales in all nine countries (Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Peru and The Dominican Republic) totaled 10.4 million 60 kilo bags, compared to 8.7 million in the same period of the previous crop.
The III World Coffee Conference will start tomorrow in Antigua, Guatemala, with the participation of foreign leaders.
Ricardo Villanueva, president of coffee association Anacafé, explained that 33 companies and entities will showcase their goods and services in the exhibition area.
Villanueva described the activity as “the event that will gather the largest number of people from different nationalities in the history of Guatemala“, and called on small local growers to take advantage of this opportunity and make contacts for conducting businesses with the entire world.
The National Association of the Coffe Industry increased their production estimates for the 2009-2010 harvest, from 3.5 to to 3.85 million 60-kilogram sacks.
With this new forecast, production would increase 17% in comparison to the previous cycle.
"Good growth conditions are appearing at times when global demand for quality coffee is raising, as Colombia - one of the largest coffee producers of the world - is facing shortages due to adverse climate and a coffee plantation renewal program", reported newspaper La Prensa Gráfica in its website.