In the last three years the palm oil industry has seen a sustainable increase, going from $140 million in 2010 to $251 million in 2011.
Data from the Central Bank of Honduras (BCH), also shows that in the first half of 2012 total exports were $110.6 million, and estimates are that the year will end with figures of between $260 and $270 million.
Palm oil has made the list of the top 10 Honduran export products, according to information from the Central Bank and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG).
With the opening up of new markets such as Mexico and Boliva, exports have increased by 30%, generating revenues close to $31 million.
So stated the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG), Juan Carlos Ordoñez.
"He said that the benefit brought by the opening up of new markets, has helped create jobs in rural areas, where there is the greatest concentration of livestock nationwide.
The export of Costa Rican grew by 10% during the first seven months of this year compared with the same period in 2011, and totaled $6,742 million.
A press release from the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Trade reads:
Growth in the 12 months ending in July compared to the previous 12 months, was 11.6%
San Jose, August 20, 2012. Costa Rican goods exports grew by 10% during the first seven months of this year compared with the same period of 2011, and reached U.S. $6,742 million. According to a report on exports by the Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER), positive numbers were reflected in the three macro-sectors: livestock and fisheries, agriculture and industry.
At the end of 2011 the country exported a total of $17.5 million, 40% higher than the $12.5 million in 2010.
The main export destinations were the United States and China, according to official reports.
"The Central American country saw improved trade in these products between 2006 and 2011 with a 49.4% increase in export volumes and prices increasing by 13.5%, according to official information.
As of July 2012, Honduras received $223 million in foreign exchange from exports of vehicle wiring systems, and expects to close the year at $450 million.
The director of the Honduran Maquila Association, Guillermo Matamoros, said the industry is stronger, both in terms of currency generated and in the number of jobs created, now in excess of 12,000.
The FOB value of Central American exports totaled $7,919 million in the first quarter of 2012 seeing a growth rate of 8.5%.
AMERICAN FOREIGN TRADE
Bulletin: January-March 2012
Executive Summary
Exports
Exports in Central America reached a FOB value of U.S. $7.91 billion during the first quarter of 2012, an year on year increase of 8.5%, less than that from January-March 2011, which was of 22.0%.
In the first seven months of the year, exports showed a significant increase in volume (14.9%) and value (13.3%), compared to the same period in 2011.
According to the Data Processing Center for Exports (Cetrex), at the end of July, the total value of exports was $1.635 million.
"There was similar behaviour in the volumes of exported products, which until July 30, 2012 - according to Cetrex - reached 1.137 billion kilograms, up from 989 million kilograms last year, when they decreased slightly compared to the 1.051 billion kilograms in 2010", reported Elnuevodiario.com.ni
After a tough first semester 2012, which saw a significantly decline in orders from the main market of the Guatemalan textile industry, the recovery began in June.
According to an article in Prensalibre.com the manager of the Garment and Textile Committee (Vestex) of Agexport, Alejandro Ceballos, said that during the first five months of the year economic uncertainty in the U.S., high international prices of cotton, and problems caused by the implementation of the new Customs Act, meant that purchase orders steadily declined.
Textile exports to the United States reported at the end of 2011 an increase of 25%, with the largest exporter being Honduras, followed by El Salvador.
Marisa Mont, a technician at the Economic Integration Secretariat, outlined the results, "Recovery begins from 2010 and is growing exponentially. This demonstrates an upward trend and that clearly is going to continue, although it is probably not going to keep growing by 25%, but it is an uptrend.
Costa Rican exports of scrap iron and steel grew by 40% between 2010 and 2011.
In the past five years the number of exporters of scrap iron and steel has nearly doubled going from 34 to a total of 58 according to the Foreign Trade Promotion Office, Procomer.
Taiwan with 42% and South Korea with 17% are the main destinations for Costa Rican exports of scrap metal.
In 2002 it exported $31 million worth, which 10 years later quadrupled, amounting to $123.6 million in exports in the first 5 months of 2012.
According to the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (Agexport) the main export destinations for Guatemalan rubber are the United States, Mexico and South America, with Colombia being the only other Latin American exporter.
Costa Rica exported $5.851 million in goods during the first half of 2012, reflecting a 10.9% increase compared to the same period in 2011.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Trade reads:
Costa Rica exported U.S. $5,851 million in goods during the first half of 2012, reflecting a 10.9% increase compared to the same period in 2011.
This was revealed in a semiannual report released today by the Export Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER).
The sector closed the first half of the year with a 20.5% increase in exports, compared to the same period of 2011.
Vice President of the Nicaraguan Chamber of Mines (Caminic), Dennis Spears, said that the boom being experienced by the sector will allow the opening, in the short term, of a new gold producing plant, "we are taking steps, we have areas where we will install and we have reflected that have a good site where it is worth putting a plant ... ".
In the first two months of the year, foreign sales on the isthmus rose by 6.4%, well below the 22.7% registered in the same period in 2011.
According to the System of Central American Economic Integration (Sieca) during this period exports totaled $4.78 billion, with the U.S. being the region’s main buyer.
"Imports summed $8.85 billion, while the trade deficit rose 22% to reach $4.06 billion", reported Laprensa.com.ni
In the past three years exports of nontraditional products have seen an increase of $900 million.
The head of the ministry of economy, Armando Flores, on the occasion of the presentation of the Accountability Report noted that in the last year alone the increase has been $290 million.
Meanwhile foreign sales of traditional products in the last three years increased by $1 million.