© Archyde.com/FREDY RODRIGUEZ
FILE PHOTO. Coffee crisis in Central America causes a record exodus to the north
TEGUCIGALPA, April 1 (Archyde.com) – Honduran coffee exports grew 10.1% in March compared to the same month of the previous harvest, data from the Honduran Coffee Institute (Ihcafe) showed on Friday, underpinned by shipments scheduled for delivery.
Foreign sales from Honduras, the largest exporter of the aromatic in Central America, totaled 889,292 60-kilo bags in March, compared to 807,506 bags for the 2020/2021 harvest, according to figures from the Marketing Department of the Honduran Institute of Ihcafé.
“March exports are a reflection of the shipping commitments that were made for that period,” the president of the Honduran Association of Coffee Producers (Ahdecafé), Miguel Pon, told Archyde.com.
Ihcafé reduced its export forecast by 12.8% in February, which initially stood at 5,822,067 60-kilo bags to 5,074,622 bags, due to a drop in production and the impact of rust on farms.
Cumulative exports from Honduras to March in the 2021/2022 harvest, which began in October, totaled 2,379,091 60-kilo bags, 8.4% more than those registered in the previous period of 2,193,154 bags, added Ihcafé.
Honduras, like its Central American neighbors and Mexico, is a producer of Arabica coffee and has its harvest between October and September of each year.
(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia, edited by Lizbeth Díaz and Adriana Barrera)