The Central American Bank for Economic Integration approved a loan, which will be used to finance a program to renovate the country's coffee farm.
The financing is destined to the renovation of the coffee park of the country, through the substitution of plants damaged by plagues and diseases or with greater age that allows to revert the losses of productivity by the aging of the plantations and the effects of the rust, estimating the renovation of approximately 19.9% of the coffee park of Guatemala, informed the financial entity.
The National Assembly of Nicaragua approved the bill that establishes that when the price per quintal of grain exceeds $100, producers must contribute one dollar to a commission that will watch over the incentives of the sector.
The changes to the Law on the Transformation and Development of Coffee Farming were surrounded by controversy, since the previous law mandated that the National Commission for the Transformation and Development of Coffee Farming (Conatradec) should be composed of nine representatives of the private sector, all proposed by the same producers or businessmen.
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.
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.
While producers in El Salvador predict that the local crop could be extinct in the next two years because of falling international prices, other countries in the region place grain at more favorable prices.
Each country's realities are different, as there are several differences that are reflected in the amounts exported and in the average prices at which the grain sells abroad.
Honduran coffee growers forecast that for the 2018-2019 harvest, foreign sales income will be reduced by $300 million with respect to the previous cycle.
According to the Association of Coffee Exporters of Honduras (Adecafeh), the bad numbers for the sector continue, because so far this crop has registered a fall of $ 40 million in exports, equivalent to 400 thousand quintals, compared to the previous cycle.
In December 2018, it was reported that the international price of a pound of coffee fell to $1, which is equivalent to a 12% drop compared to the same month in 2017.
Data from the International Coffee Organization (ICO) detail that in the last two months of last year also reported a decline in the price of the pound of coffee globally, in this case was 8% as it declined from $1.09 to $1.
In October and November last year, gold grain exports from Nicaragua totaled $13 million, 60% less than what was sold in the same months of 2017.
Figures from the Export Processing Center (Cetrex) detail that in the first two months of 2018-2019 harvest, the country sold abroad 103,380 quintals of gold grain, 58% less than the 248,808 quintals exported in the same period of the 2017-2018 harvest.
In Costa Rica, the coffee sector expects that for the 2018-2019 harvest will be produced about 1.8 million quintals, a volume that would be 11% lower than that recorded in the 2017-2018 season.
According to forecasts by the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (Icafé), between the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 harvests, the country's production will fall from 2 million to 1.8 million quintals, a decline that would be caused by the cyclical behavior of plants and the aging of coffee plantations.
During the first six months of the year, coffee exports from Central American countries totaled $1,948 million, 9% less than what was reported in the same period in 2017.
Figures from the information system on the coffee market in Central America complied by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
To reduce production costs, the Guatemalan coffee association will implement a climate information system to provide access to more specific forecasts in coffee-growing areas.
According to the National Coffee Association (Anacafé) with the implementation of more weather stations in small coffee areas of the country, the costs of grain production could be reduced between 10% and 15%.
In Guatemala, for the 2018-2019 harvest, the production of green coffee is projected to reach 4.5 million quintals, which would exceed the 4.4 million quintals reported in the previous season.
According to Ricardo Arenas, president of the National Coffee Association (Anacafe), "... The 2018-2019 coffee harvest, which started last month, will stand at 4.5 million quintals of green coffee; of that figure, it is estimated that 3.5 million will be exported."
Between the 2011-2012 and 2016-2017 harvests, the difference between the average price per quintal of the country's exports and the international market price of grain has more than doubled, from $25 to $54.
According to Investing.com data and figures provided by the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafe), during coffee year 2011-2012 the average value of a 46 kg bag of coffee on the New York Market was $198.12 and the average price of Costa Rican exports was $222.76, reflecting a difference of $24.64.
Prices for all coffee groups fell in July 2018, though the largest month-on month decrease occurred for Brazilian Naturals, which declined by 4% to 110.54 US cents/lb.
From the monthly report by the ICO:
In July 2018, the ICO composite indicator price decreased by 2.9% to an average of 107.20 US cents/lb, which is the lowest monthly average for July since 2007, when the monthly composite indicator reached 106.20 US cents/lb.
In the last six years the average export price of Central American coffee has been trending downwards, with the price per kilo falling from $4.51 in March 2012, to $3.10 in the same month in 2018.
Figures from the information system on the Coffee Market in Central America, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with graph"]