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"]
As a result of the imbalance reported in world trade flows due to the pandemic, Nicaraguan coffee producers have been affected by the shortage of containers facing the country.
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"]
The IADB will grant the Salvadoran government a loan for $45 million, which will be used to finance the project called "Strengthening the Climate Resilience of Coffee Forests."
According to the Government, the subscription of the loan with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has the objective of maintaining the ecosystemic services provided by the coffee forest and improving the food security of small producers, informed the Ministry of Finance of El Salvador.
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.
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.
Due to the reduction in office work and the increase in teleworking, Costa Rican toasters estimate that the local market demand for the beverage has contracted between 15% and 20%, when compared to sales levels prior to the beginning of the health crisis.
With the spread of covid-19 several companies and public institutions, which were able to accommodate their employees' work in the form of teleworking, stopped buying coffee for consumption in the offices.
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.
It is estimated that in El Salvador the current coffee harvest will close at 600,000 quintals, a volume similar to that reported in 1890, when the country had not invested considerably in coffee production.
The lack of maintenance work such as pruning, fertilization, weed control, pests and diseases, are some of the reasons why the volume of coffee cultivation has fallen to levels reported 130 years ago.
In the department of El Paraíso, a high-tech plant was inaugurated that will be dedicated to the production and processing of coffee products and specialty coffees.
The plant is located in Teupasenti and is called BioFortune. A $1 million investment was required and it has controlled fermentation and dehydration equipment.
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.
Because of the lack of investment in recent years in the maintenance of the coffee park, in the first three months of the current harvest in El Salvador a 46% year-on-year drop in the volume of coffee production is reported.
Figures from the Salvadoran Coffee Council (CSC) indicate that from October to December 2019, nearly 358,000 quintals of coffee have been harvested, a volume that is lower than the 668,000 quintals produced in the same period in 2018.