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.
Although the U.S. is the main buyer of Guatemalan coffee, data from the exporters' guild indicate that South Korea is one of the markets that pays the best prices for the grain, while Italy pays one of the lowest prices.
#Although the main buyer of Guatemalan coffee is the United States, there are indications that Asian countries tend to appreciate Guatemalan coffee more, paying a higher price for it, notes the report "Guatemalan Coffee: A Focus on the World Market and Its Productivity.
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"]
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.
In the first eight months of the year the country generated $381 million from exports of the grain, 14% less than the $445 million reported in the same period in 2017.
According to figures from the Export Procedures Center (Cetrex), a decrease was also reported in relation to the volume exported for the period from January to August of this year, compared to the first eight months of 2017, in this case a drop of 3%.
A Taiwanese company has paid $803 for a pound of geisha coffee produced in the province of Chiriqui, surpassing the highest price of $601 paid for a grain of this type.
In the online auction 'The Best of Panama 2018', the Asian company Black Gold Coffee Co paid the highest amount per pound that has been registered for a coffee of the geisha variety, buying it from Elida Geisha Green Tip Natural which produces the grain in the District of Boquete.
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"]
Due to the climatic conditions predicted for the months of July and August, an increase is expected in the presence of the disease in coffee plantations in Costa Rica.
During July there is a typical decrease in rainfall known as "la canícula", a period in which Rust progresses slowly and the emergence of new lesions is less.However, at the same time there is a greater presence of spores in the lesiones favored by the warmer temperature and by weaker and less frequent rains.This situation will promote a largeincrease in the disease in the majority of the Costa Rican coffee plantations when more abundant rains return starting in August, reported the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafé).
The lot that this year was best quoted in the international electronic auction reached $30 thousand per hundredweight, and the grain comes from the canton of Dota, Los Santos zone, Costa Rica.
The high quality coffee that received the best quote in the international electronic auction in the Cup of Excellence contest is from the Don Cayito farm, with a price of $30,009 per hundredweight.
In Congress, work is being done on a bill that would create a research institute, long awaited for by local coffee growers.
The deputies announced that they are working in the Assemblytogether with the Coffee Table, on the request by producers to create an institution that will carry out research to improve the sector's productivity.
The sector union foresees that for the 2017-2018 harvest foreign currency generated from sales abroad will fall by 14% with respect to the previous season.
Explained by a drop in the average price per hundredweight of exports, which fell from $145 in the 2016-2017 season to $123 so far in the current harvest, the Honduran Coffee Institute (Ihcafé) envisages a 14% decrease in income from sales abroad.
Last year coffee sales in Central American countries totaled $3.035 million and grew by 27% compared to 2016, in contrast to the fall recorded between 2015 and 2016.
Figures from the information system on the Coffee Marketin Central America, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData : [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with graph"]
Up until April 30, the export value of the current 2017/18 harvest was $680 million, 13% less than was reported on the same date in the 2016-2017 cycle.
According to figures from the Honduran Coffee Institute, the registered decrease is due to the fact that "... The average export price per hundredweight to date is $122.74, compared to the average price of 2016-2017 of $145.26, down 16%."
Of the 35 Nicaraguan coffee producers that obtained more than 86 points this year, five scored 90 or more, entering the category of "Presidential Cafés".
According to the organizers, the results were positive, as in previous editions of the event only two or three managed to enter the presidential coffee category.
In Costa Rica, a new bill has been presented to grant resources at a preferential rate to producers, aimed particularly at the smaller ones.
According to the bill, which received a positive ruling in committee and now must go to the Plenary, the fund will be financed by a contribution of 5% from the liquid surplus of the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafé), resources from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and funds recovered from the Trust Fund for Coffee Producers Affected by Rust and the Coffee Plantation Renewal Plan.