In the first nine months of 2019, cardamom exports grew 52% over the same period in 2018, a rise explained by global product shortages and high demand in the Middle East market.
Figures from the Bank of Guatemala state that between January and September 2018, and the same period in 2019, foreign sales of cardamom increased by $132 million, from $253 million to $385 million.
Exports of Guatemalan cardamom producers improved during the last harvest, as a decline in global supply resulted in a 34% increase in the selling price.
According to figures from the Bank of Guatemala, the average price per quintal of cardamom sold abroad from the country reported a rise between February 2018 and the same month of 2019, going from $489.93 to $654.80, which is explained.
In 2017, cardamom exports from Guatemala totaled $367 million, and the 60% increase compared to the previous year was mainly due to an increase in the international price.
The increase in export value was mainly due to an increase registered in the price of cardamom on the international market over the past year, as it increased from $6.42 per kilo in 2016 to $10.27 per kilo in 2017, which represents growth of 60%, which coincides with the increase in the amount sold abroad.
Favored by an improvement in international prices, from January to November 2017 the country sold $317 million worth abroad, 71% more than was exported in the same period in 2016.
In the first 11 months of 2016, the country sold $186 million worth of cardamom abroad, 11% less than was sold in the same period in 2015.
The 2016/17 harvest closed with a total export amount of 29,700 tons, equivalent to $300 million in revenues, 30% more than in the previous season.
In the harvest that just ended, the improved revenue was achieved with a lower export volume, due to an increase in the international price.In the 2016/17 season, 38 thousand tons were exported and $230 million were generated.
In Guatemala, 72 complaints have been filed against several exporters for alleged simulation of purchases to claim a refund of the tax credit from the SAT.
Businesspeople who are exporters of coffee and cardamom said that the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT) owed them more than $100 million in tax refunds, which correspond to requests made since 2011.
A rebound in prices late last year meant that between September and June exports ascend to $235 million, 15% more than in the same period in the previous harvest.
Although there was a reduction in export volumes, the increase in international prices favored exporters of the fruit, who asserted that they sold "... about 30,800 tons between September 2014 and June 2015."
After a difficult year because of the impact of the Thrips pest and declining international prices, at the end of 2014 $240 million were generated in export earnings.
With the annual increase of 10% in production, Guatemala maintains its global market lead in cardamom sales. According to the Guatemalan Exporters Association (Agexport), since 2005 they have increased their sales by up to 241%.
Overproduction along with the thrips pest, which has affected 35% of production, are putting downward pressure on the price of the seed.
On top of the negative effect of the pest on crops, is the lack of implementation of good practices by smallholders and soil problems arising from, among other factors, deforestation.
"Jorge Mario del Cid, Chairman of the Cardamom Committee at the Guatemalan Exporters Association, said in an article in El Periodico that a quintal can fetch a price in the local market of Q5, 000 when the crop is below 20,000 tonnes, but it may fall to get Q1,500 with the current harvest." According to the same source, the problem affects approximately 350,000 domestic producers."
Guatemalan producers are selling their production on the global market at $12 - $12.5 per kilo, while India is offering its produce at $14 - $14.5.
Cardamom exports from India, the second largest producer of the seed after Guatemala, have been negatively affected by the actions of Guatemalan producers, who held back their supply while prices in India were low and waited for them to go up before selling on the market at more competitive prices.
Guatemala Exporters are opposed to a bill that would give the state control of production, marketing and export of the seed.
From a statement from the Guatemalan Exporters Association :
Given the problems of overproduction and poor product of cardamom in the last years, which has had a negative impacted in the form of lower prices, affecting small producers to the international market, the Committee on Cardamom at AGEXPORT is calling on the country to join in efforts to address the needs of the productive chain which more than 350,000 people are involved in, with concrete actions ranging from technical assistance, diversification, research and the development of entrepreneurial skills of producer groups.