In the third quarter of 2018, Central American exports totaled $23,702 million, reporting an increase of less than 1% compared to the same period in 2017, because of the lower dynamism of sales from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
According to the Central American Trade Monitor for the Third Quarter 2018, prepared by the Secretariat of Central American Economic Integration (SIECA), imports of goods in the region totaled $54,665 million from July to September last year, recording a 6.5% increase over the same period in 2017.
Between January and October of this year, sales abroad totaled $3.785 million, registering a decrease of almost 3% compared to the total accumulated in the same period of 2017.
The Central Bank of Honduras reported that in the first ten months of the year the value of exports totaled US$3,784.6 million, showing a 2.8% decrease (US$107.9 million) compared to October 2017, evolution basically related to the reduction in sales of coffee, palm oil, used gold accessories and shrimp, partly reduced by greater external shipments of paper and cardboard, zinc and plastic and their manufactures.
Between January and September of this year, sales abroad totaled $3,499 million, registering a decrease of almost 3% compared to the cumulative figure for the same period in 2017.
The Central Bank of Honduras reported that by the third quarter of 2018, FOB exports of general merchandise totaled US$3,499.2 million, lower by 2.8% (US$101.6 million) compared to September 2017, mostly because of a decrease in sales of coffee, palm oil, used gold accessories and shrimp; a result that was partially balanced by the increase in external shipments of paper and cardboard, zinc and plastic and their manufactures.
Between January and July of this year, sales abroad reached $2.846 million, recording a decrease of almost 3% with respect to the cumulative figure for the same period in 2017.
Between January and June of this year, sales abroad totaled $2.486 billion, registering a decrease of 2.7% with respect to what was accumulated in the same period in 2017.
From a report by the Central Bank of Honduras:
Regarding regional destinations, North America remains in first position, with the United States of America (USA) being the main commercial partner of Honduras with 35.2% of total exports, followed by the markets of Europe which demanded 32.7% of the total and Central America with a share of 18.9% of the total.
Between January and May of this year, sales abroad totaled $2.091 billion, registering a decrease of almost 2% with respect to the amount accumulated in the same period in 2017.
A report of the Central Bank of Honduras states that "... Agroindustrial activities generated foreign currency of US $1.137 billion, which represents a decrease of US $142.7 million in relation to the amount obtained in the interval from January to May in the previous year; essentially because of a reduction of US $133.3 million in coffee exports, a fact linked to the 14.6% drop in the international price of coffee (existence of an oversupply of coffee in the world market and the speculation of abetter harvest by Brazil)."
In the first four months of the year, the country counted $1.686 billion earned from sales abroad, registering an increase of just 1.3% compared to the same period in 2017.
The Central Bank of Honduras reported that the increase recorded is largely due to an "... increase in external sales of manufactured goods such as paper and cardboard, iron and its manufactures, plastic products and soaps, as well as mining products (zinc, lead and gold)."
Explained by the results of the agro-industrial sector, between January and March of this year the country registered $1.272 billion in sales abroad, 2% more than in the first quarter of 2017.
From a report by the Central Bank of Honduras:
General merchandise transactions with foreign countries registered a deficit of US $1.1261 billion in the first quarter of 2018, resulting from imports that totaled US $2.398 billion, US $142.5 million (6.3%) more than in March 2017; while exports totaled US $1.2719 billion, increasing US $25.1 million (2.0%) when compared with those of the same period in the previous year.
In 2017 exports totaled $4,564 million, 17% more than what was recorded in 2016, due to an increase in coffee and palm oil sales.
The Central Bank of Honduras (BCH) reported that the increase reported in 2017 is attributed to " ... increased sales of coffee, palm oil, shrimp, iron and its manufactures and paper and cardboard, products that together explain 89.9% of the observed annual increase."
An increase in sales of coffee, palm oil and shrimp, explained part of the 18% increase in exports reported between January and November 2017, compared to the same period in 2016.
The Central Bank of Honduras reported that the growth in exports of the first 11 months of last year, is explained by an increase in sales of coffee, palm oil, shrimp, iron and its manufactures, bananas and paper and cardboard.
In the first quarter of 2016, the performance of the export sector was affected by falling prices in international markets and lower export volumes.
Foreign Trade report by Central Bank of Nicaragua:
The value of exports amounted to 554.0 billion, with a reduction in value of 17.5 percent compared to the same quarter in 2015. Meanwhile fob imports amounted to 1331.5 million dollars with a growth of 4.1 percent year on year.
FOB exports of general goods registered growth of 10.5%, while CIF imports of general merchandise increased by 5.4%.
Summary of the Report on General Merchandise Foreign Trade, by the Central Bank of Honduras:
FOB exports of general goods recorded a growth of 10.5% in December 2012, attributed to an increase of $305 million in exports of non-traditional products and $113.3 million in traditional products.
Inflation deceleration and Risks to economic recovery.
The quarterly report from the Executive Secretary of the Central American Monetary Council (SECMCA) focuses on the region's inflation and recovery prospects.
Inflation, measured by year-on-year change in consumer prices, slowed in the second quarter of 2010 to 4.9%, compared to 2.9% in June 2009. This level is within the target limits set by the region's central banks.
You can find data on national accounts, inflation, unemployment, payment balance, fiscal indicators, international trade and raw material prices.
The IMF published a series of selected macroeconomic data and raw material prices by country and region, with a two year projection, as part of the statistical appendix to the biannual report on global economic prospects.