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"]
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.
Although several companies have been affected by the measures implemented by governments in the context of the Covid-19 crisis, Costa Rican exports of coffee, pineapple and bananas have so far not faced difficulties with logistics.
Directors of the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafé) indicated that so far there have been no problems with the availability of containers and that sales abroad are proceeding normally.
During the first six months of 2019, coffee exports from Central American countries totaled $1.782 million, 8% less than what was reported for the same period in 2018.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphics"]
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.
Guatemalan producers reported that for the 2018-2019 harvest, exports to these Asian markets gained importance, as Malaysia was sold 103,000 quintals of green coffee and 80,000 to China.
Figures from the National Coffee Association (Anacafe), specify that for the 2018-2019 agricultural cycle the export of coffee was 4.6 million quintals gold and generated a foreign exchange income of $663 million.
Natural or legal persons who wish to register as exporters with the Honduran Coffee Institute will no longer have to comply with the requirement to prove a minimum share capital of $1 million.
Directors of the Honduran Coffee Institute (Ihcafe) reported that the market commission had been managing the proposal since 2018, which was already approved by the National Coffee Council (Conacafé).
The coffee growers' guild signed an agreement with the Guatemalan-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry to promote local production in the European country.
Directors of the National Coffee Association (Anacafé) explained that the agreement will facilitate the coordination of actions for the promotion and export of coffee from Guatemala to Germany, such as the generation of direct links between producers and buyers.
During the first three months of the year, coffee exports from Central American countries totaled $747 million, 17% less than what was reported for the same period in 2018.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
In markets such as North America and Western Europe, a consumer segment wants the grain to meet aspects such as ethical and sustainable sourcing, and its production process to be certified.
According to the study "Trends and Opportunities for value-added coffee exports" conducted by the Differentiated Coffees Committee of AGEXPORT, reveals how to change the strategies for marketing good quality coffee with higher value added (roasted), for the next coffee harvest of 2,019 - 2,020 and those to come.
For the 2018-2019 harvest, the country began to export coffee of the Robusta variety, and according to the producers for the next agricultural cycles they plan to increase their cultivable area.
According to figures from the Center for Export Procedures (Cetrex) between October 2018 and May 2019, the country sold abroad about 50,000 quintals of the Robusta variety, being the first time that the species of the grain is reported in official export figures.
Last year, the main regional crop sold abroad was coffee, with $2.671 million, followed by banana, with $2.594 million, pineapple, with $1.097 million and sugar, with $722 million.
Data from the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralamericaData:
The main coffee export destinations were the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Italy, Japan and Canada, which together represent 70% of the volume exported by the region, equivalent to approximately $2,050 million. [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graphic"]
Because of a drop in the price of the grain, during the first eight months of the 2018-2019 harvest Honduran coffee sales abroad totaled $673 million, 14% less than what was reported in the same period of the 2017-2018 cycle.
According to figures from the Honduran Coffee Institute (Ihcafe) between the first eight months of the 2017-2018 harvest, which runs from October 2017 to May 2018, and the same period of the 2018-2019 season, sales and exported volume decreased from $786 million to $673 million, and from 6.4 million to 6.3 million, respectively.