The volume purchased by China in the recent harvest is equivalent to that acquired between 2005 and 2011.
In the 2012-13 harvest, three Asian countries purchased 673,843 metric tons (MT) of sugar, equivalent to 35% of the country's total export crop. China bought 341,218 MT giving it h a 20% share, which is equivalent to the amount it acquired from 2005 to 2011, which was 311,073 MT.
During the first six months of 2013 the country received $700 million from exports of sugar.
Sugar sales during the first half gave a big boost to other exports. According to the Bank of Guatemala (Banguat), up to June exports reported a total of $5.298 billion, up 1.6% from the income generated in the same period in 2012 which was $5.215 billion.
According to Armando Boesche, manager of the Sugar Association of Guatemala (Asazgua), the country saw a record harvest and last September and at the beginning of 2013 it was possible to quote a good price for the product on the stock market. "I hope that prices don't drop because different producing countriessuch as Mexico and Brazil have also had plentiful crops," he said.
At the end of the 2012-13 total production from the harvest was 60.049 million quintals of sugar, which is 2,782,000 metric tons.
The harvest that has just concluded, grew by 11% compared to the period 2011-12, when the production reached 54.033 million quintals (2,499,000 metric tons).
According to Armando Boesche, general manager of the Sugar Association of Guatemala (Asazgua), climatic conditions during the last six months "were appropriate, as there were more daylight hours in the time of greatest growth for sugarcane" .
Guatemalan sugar producers expect to produce 57 million quintals from the harvest which ends this May, which is 5% more than in the 2011-12 harvest.
According to Armando Boesche, CEO of the Sugar Association of Guatemala (Asazgua), the production of the 12 sugar mills operating in Guatemala will increase by three million quintals.
"The weather conditions last year (2011-2012) compared to this year (2012-2013) were similar and conducive to the cultivation of sugarcane. This allowed better yields in field and factory," he added.
In the last twenty years the sugar industry has been growing at an annual rate of 11%, contributing to 3% of gross domestic product.
According to statistics from the Bank of Guatemala, in 2011 sugar exports accounted for 6.2% of total exports from the country.
The 2011-2012 harvest was very favorable achieving record production of 54.3 million quintals and estimates for 2012-2013 are for 55 million quintals, said Armando Boesche, manager of the Sugar Association of Guatemala (Asazgua).
Producers anticipate a production of 50.8 million bushels for the harvest beginning in November.
According to information from the Guatemalan Sugar Association (ASAZGUA in Spanish) production for the harvest beginning in November will exceed the production of the 2010-2011 harvest by 6.3 million bushels.
"The last harvest fell to 44.5 million bushels due to disasters caused by Tropical Storm Agatha, ASAZGUA president, Armando Boesche told local press.
Good prices caused by global demand exceeding supply of the sweetener, has led to land previously used for livestock being turned over for sugar.
The cultivated area of sugarcane will increase by 15,000 hectares for the 2011-2012 harvest, going from 233,000 to 248,000. New areas to be incorporated are in Escuintla, Santa Rosa, Retalhuleu and Suchitepéquez.
Projections estimate 6 million fewer bushels from the current crop in relation to 2009/2010.
Armando Boesche, manager of the Sugar Association of Guatemala (ASAZGUA), stated that because of excessive rainfall over the winter, which affected about 12 thousand hectares of sugar cane, production will drop to 12.5 %.
"Exports will also drop. The executive estimates exports of 32 million quintals, representing lower foreign exchange revenues,” reported the article in Prensalibre.com.
With an estimated production of 48.4 million bushels, the 2010/2011 harvest begins next Monday.
The estimated production for this crop is lower than that of 2009-2010, which was 50 million bushels, due to excessive rains, according to information from the Sugar Association of Guatemala (ASAZGUA).
"Cane milling will determine the yield per hectare harvested; fungus and humidity which affected crops were focalized and did not extend to other crops," said the general manager of ASAZGUA, Armando Boesche.
The impact of the rain on 12k hectares is expected to cause a 2.5 million hundredweight drop in sugar production.
Armando Boesche, general manager of the Association of Guatemalan Sugar Producers (Asazgua), indicated that the 2010-11 sugar harvest is forecast to be 48.4 million hundredweight, 5% less than in 2009-10.
"The crops worst affected are located in the region of Escuintla, though there is also damage to plantations in Santa Rosa, Retalhuleu and Suchitepéquez, according to a technical evaluation carried out by Asazgua," reports Prensa Libre.
The country sold $456 million of sugar in the first 5 months of the year, 123% more than in the same period of 2009, when it exported $204 million.
This increase was achieved in spite of lower sugar prices in the international market: $27.45 was paid for a quintal back on December 2009, while in June 3 it was worth $19.78, a 27% reduction.
Data from the Guatemalan Sugar Growers Association (Asazgua) shows that the country shipped much more sugar volume this year. Between January and June, Guatemala exported 1.372.000 metric tons, while in the entire 2008/09 season it sold just 1.367.000 metric tons.
Armando Boesche, Manager of the Guatemalan Sugarcane Farmers Association, affirmed that the 15 mills in the country are expecting a record of more than 48 million quintals (sacks) of sugar.
The last harvest was lower due to the lack of light that affected the plantations in addition to the low production in new areas.
Guatemala is the fifth largest export of sugar in the world, and sales had generated US$350.2 million as of 23 October, a drop of 27.6% in comparison to the US$483.5 obtained in the same period in 2007, according to data from the Bank of Guatemala.
The high cost of transportation from Guatemala to markets in Asia, Australia and Africa has displaced national sugar exporters, who increased their exports to the EU and the Caribbean.
Sales to the Far East and Australia dropped from 30% for the period from November 2007 to July 2007, to 13.2% for the current harvest.
According to information from the Sugar Association of Guatemala (Asazgua), there is a similar trend in sugar sales to the Middle East, North Africa, Western Europe and the Indian subcontinent.