Guatemala coffee exports were down 8.6 percent in November despite a recent rally in world prices for the beans. The Central American country exported 99,762 60-kg bags last month, compared to 109,125 bags in the same month last year, coffee growers association Anacafe said on Friday. Consolidated exports were 190,361 bags for October and November, the first two months in the 2004-05 coffee cycle, down 14.6 percent compared to the same period last year.
Countries in the region have reported increased exports this month as exporters take advantage of higher prices on the New York "C" contract, where most Central American coffee is sold.
Coffee exports from Guatemala in the first months of the cycle are down because many producers of lower altitude coffees, which ripen earlier, were forced out of the business by a protracted price slump.
Guatemala expects to export around 3.4 million bags of coffee in 2004-05.