The country won't cede its sugar quota to Nicaragua and Honduras, and it opposes to Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama conceding theirs.
For Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador the Association Agreement with the European Union has not yet entered into force, so they are prevented from offering their sugar in an auction where 35 buyers bid to bring it to market in the old continent.
During the first ten months of the 2012-13 crop, coffee sales fell by 41.4% in currencies and 15.6% in volume.
According to the manager of the Honduran Coffee Institute (Ihcafé), Victor Hugo Molina, coffee exports between October 2012 and July 2013 were $763.8 million, whereas last season revenues were reported of $1,034 million.
In terms of the volume exported during the period, 5.4 million quintals of grain were sold, a decrease of 15.5% compared to the previous cycle, when the amount was 6.4 million.
The country is the third largest producer and exporter of palm oil in Latin America, after Ecuador and Colombia, with projected sales for 2013 of $400 million.
According to Victor Iscoa, technical secretary of the palm chain at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG), this year exports of the product have grown by 30%, going from $304.4 million to more than $400 million.
Under the framework of the Petrocaribe initiative, Honduran producers plan to sell palm oil, milk powder, UHT milk and chicken meat.
According to the president of the National Federation of Farmers and Ranchers (Fenagh), Leopoldo Durán, the Venezuelan government has shown interest in Honduras for the provision of palm oil, milk powder, UHT milk and chicken meat.
The sector, which was ready to export 10,000 tonnes of sugar to the European Union, must wait two more months to do so.
Non-acceptance by dairy farmers in El Salvador and Costa Rica of the geographical indicators for Italian cheeses has caused a delay of at least 60 days of the entry into force of the Association Agreement with the EU.
"We were ready to export, but if there is no treaty we will have to send the sugar to another market at a lower price than would have been paid by the Europe" said Julio Arroyo, CEO of the Sugar Association of El Salvador.
The Costa Rican pineapple sector wants to consolidate the presence it has gained in major international markets.
It is negotiating with the Foreign Trade Promotion Office the terms needed to create a brand for the country in the next few months, which they hope will help maintain the explosive volume that has been exported.
"In just a decade, exports increased from $158 million in 2002, to reach a peak of $789 million in 2012, an increase of 400% making this fruit the number agricultural shipment above bananas and coffee," reported Elfinancierocr.com.
Palm oil production will grow by more than 20% during 2013, and entrepreneurs are looking for new markets.
According to Hector Castro, president of the Association of Palm Growers in Honduras, annual production of palm oil is between 11% and 18%.
Castro said that one of the attractive markets for Honduran oil is Venezuela, a country which could receive the oil as part payment for fuel through the Petrocaribe initiative.
If Salvadoran Congress has not approved the Association Agreement with the European Union before July 15, the country will lose the benefit of exporting sugar to Europe duty free.
This was stated by the Association of Sugarcane Growers of El Salvador (Procaña), who demanded that the Salvadoran Congress ratify the agreement soon. "Of this amount, El Salvador is entitled to a share of 24,391 tonnes while Guatemala can export 65,000, Nicaragua 21,681, and Honduras and Costa Rica can export 19,464 each," noted an article in Elsalvador.com.
In the UK there is a tendency to consume more palm oil from sustainable production and it has become the third largest global importer of this product.
From an article by the Foreign Trade Promotion Office of Costa Rica (PROCOMER):
Palm oil is the second most consumed oil in the world. The UK is the third global importer of this product, which is used in food, cosmetic and oleo-chemical products.
Before the end of April, the Philippines will be sending its first shipment of three thousand tons of Cavendish bananas to the United States.
From an article by the Costa Rican Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
The Philippine government said on Monday that the first shipment of 3,000 tons of Cavendish bananas bound for the United States will finally be sent before the end of April.
In order to stimulate the Mexican chocolate industry the government of the country will be allowing cocoa imports .
From an article by the Costa Rican Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
Chocolate is a product that Mexico supplies to the world and which is currently going through hard times in this country. The duty free import of foreign chocolate and the protection Mexican cocoa producers have enjoyed for years, has led to the closing or sale of several companies, as happened last year with La Cubana and Wong's, and before that Larin and Azteca.
Attracted by the benefits of the Canada-Panama FTA, Canadian businessmen have visited producers in the provinces of Cocle and Los Santos.
According to Johnnie Sbrocci, from the company C.O.D. Fresh, their visit is due to the great potential of Panamanian culture and they are evaluating whether to export papaya and some tubers next year.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade, José Pacheco, said these companies were willing to invest in the country exploiting the advantages of the recent entry into force of the Trade Promotion Agreement (FTA) with Canada. "
Costa Rican cacao is the finest in the world, but the country lacks the technology to process it, and the chocolate consumed is mostly imported.
According to an article in Elfinancierocr.com, "Two projects developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE by its initials in Spanish) have focused since 2007 on increasing the quantity and quality of crops" This has allowed a rise in cultivation and production of cocoa, which after the attack of a pest in the 80s, was practically nil.
After exporting 120 million cigars in 2012, Nicaraguan tobacco companies aim to reach 150 million units in sales in 2013.
If the sale goal is achieved, Nicaragua will have positioned itself as the leading exporter of cigars, removing the Dominican Republic from the top position.
An article in Lavozdelsandinismo.com reports that Fredman Torrez, a member of the Association of Nicaraguan Cigar Makers, said that "in 2011 102 million units were sold abroad, in 2012 120 million were exported and this year its is predicted that 150 million cigars will be sold abroad. "