Guatemalan coffee exports went down from 22% of all exports in 1999 to 8.32% in 2008.
Although today's share of coffee in exports is considerable lower than in 1999, it has not dropped to 2001 levels, when coffee exports fell by 6.29%.
An article by Roxana Larios in Sigloxxi.com analyzes the evolution of one of Guatemala's main export products: "By the end of 2001 and beginning of 2002, the price dropped to $0.40 by pound, 'the lowest in 100 years', recalls an analyst from the National Coffee Association, known as Anacafé. Nowadays the price is $1.20 per pound. 'A lot of plantations that could not compete cost-wise with Brazil diversified its crops, orientating to rubber production and other products', and since then abandoned coffee".
During the first seven months of the coffee year, nine Latin American coffee producers have exported a total of 15.5 million 60-kilogram bags.
For the same period last year, exports were 16.8 million 60-kilogram bags.
Sigloxxi.com published: "The most drastic drop suffered by the group of Latin American countries was recorded last April, when exports fell by 18.25% overall compared to the same month of the previous coffee year."
Managed by CABI and financed by the Soros Foundation, the Mirador Monetario will contribute to transparency in the Financial System of Guatemala.
Managed by Central American Business Intelligence, the mission of the Mirador Monetario is "to be the leading source of information and education regarding financial monetary matters and to expand to the rest of countries in CA."