Coffee exports from Honduras rose 52 percent in July compared with the same month last year, the country's national coffee institute IHCAFE said on Friday, as exporters seek to lock in stronger returns amid speculation that prices may fall in the near-term.
Shipments totalled 349,450 60-kg bags in July, IHCAFE said. "July exports rose because of instability in the price of coffee in the international market and fears from Honduran exporters that prices will soon fall," said Salvador Melghem, vice president of the coffee farmers association AHPROCAFE. Melghem added that August and September exports would likely fall due to low inventories at export houses.
IHCAFE said Honduras had exported at least 37,777 bags on the first day of August, according to the preliminary statement published on Friday. That figure is expected to rise as additional shipments are tallied for the rest of the month. Coffee exports through the first 10 months of the current 2013/2014 harvesting season totalled 3.97 million bags, down 4.3 percent compared with the same 10-month period during the previous 2012/2013 season, according to IHCAFE data. In May, IHCAFE lowered its exports forecast for the current season to 4.2 million bags from 4.6 million bags, due to coffee smuggling to Guatemala where beans can command a higher price as well as damage caused by the tree-killing fungus roya.
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