Because the grain has not matured with the normal speed, at the end of the second half of December of the 2020-2021 agricultural season, the volume harvested in the country had fallen 23% compared to what was reported at the same date of the 2019-2020 cycle.
According to businessmen of the sector, the delay in the maturation of coffee is mainly because during 2020 in almost all the country the rains arrived late, a phenomenon that interrupted the normal cycle of the grain.
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Because of the rains generated in Central American countries by Hurricane Eta, authorities warn that coffee plantations could be threatened by the spread of pests or diseases.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) of El Salvador issued recommendations for coffee growers to avoid the spread of diseases on their farms, such as rust fungus and anthracnose.
It is estimated that in El Salvador the current coffee harvest will close at 600,000 quintals, a volume similar to that reported in 1890, when the country had not invested considerably in coffee production.
The lack of maintenance work such as pruning, fertilization, weed control, pests and diseases, are some of the reasons why the volume of coffee cultivation has fallen to levels reported 130 years ago.
In Costa Rica, the business sector is opposed to a proposed law that would give Icafé the power to impose requirements and controls on the processes of supplying the raw material necessary for grain production.
Because of the lack of investment in recent years in the maintenance of the coffee park, in the first three months of the current harvest in El Salvador a 46% year-on-year drop in the volume of coffee production is reported.
Figures from the Salvadoran Coffee Council (CSC) indicate that from October to December 2019, nearly 358,000 quintals of coffee have been harvested, a volume that is lower than the 668,000 quintals produced in the same period in 2018.
Costa Rican businessmen are opposed to the bill that gives Icafé the authority to impose requirements and controls on the processes of supplying the raw material necessary for grain production.
In the current period, the Legislative Assembly plans to discuss bill 21.163, which aims to transform the powers of the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (Icafé), but the business sector anticipates that the proposed modifications will lead to a rise in the prices of the product.
For the 2019-2020 crop, production is estimated at 1.91 million quintals, about 12% more than in the previous cycle, partly due to the renewal of some coffee plantations.
The Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafé) forecasts that coffee production will increase by 196,760 sacks of 46 kilograms of processed beans, from 1,717,659 quintals reported in the 2018-2019 cycle to 1,914,419 projected for the 2019-2020 harvest.
The increase to $135 of the international price of the quintal is promising for the coffee sector, since in recent years producers have gone through severe crises because of the fall in the price of the grain.
According to figures from Bloomberg Markets, between mid-November and the first week of December the price of a quintal of coffee at the international level registered an important upturn, going from $100 to $135.
Guatemalan producers reported that for the 2018-2019 harvest, exports to these Asian markets gained importance, as Malaysia was sold 103,000 quintals of green coffee and 80,000 to China.
Figures from the National Coffee Association (Anacafe), specify that for the 2018-2019 agricultural cycle the export of coffee was 4.6 million quintals gold and generated a foreign exchange income of $663 million.
The Guatemalan exporters' guild made available to specialty coffee producers the digital platform CoffeVerse, which is focused on expanding business opportunities and markets.
The platform that was presented by the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (Agexport) includes a geolocation data of farms and it is expected that in the coming months the system will include details of the producing farms.
The coffee growers oppose the possibility that in El Salvador the minimum wage will be raised, because they assure that the price at which the grain is quoted at an international level, prevents them from paying higher wages.
The National Minimum Wage Council (CNSM) began days ago to review the conditions for deciding whether or not to adjust the minimum wage. This situation has alerted several productive sectors, such as coffee growers.
The $286 million credit granted by CABEI to renovate coffee plantations in Guatemala has not yet been approved by local authorities, so resources would only be available in the second half of 2020.
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.
In markets such as North America and Western Europe, a consumer segment wants the grain to meet aspects such as ethical and sustainable sourcing, and its production process to be certified.
According to the study "Trends and Opportunities for value-added coffee exports" conducted by the Differentiated Coffees Committee of AGEXPORT, reveals how to change the strategies for marketing good quality coffee with higher value added (roasted), for the next coffee harvest of 2,019 - 2,020 and those to come.
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