Panama’s geisha glistens but not all coffee is gold

While Panama’s gourmet geisha coffee continues to set world records prices, in the last six years the average export price of Central American coffee has been trending downwards, with the price per kilo falling from $4.51 in March 2012, to $3.10 in the same month in 2018.

Figures, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData show that

In the first quarter of 2018, the main exporter of coffee in Central America was Honduras, with $442 million, followed by Guatemala, with $191 million, Nicaragua, with $146 million, Costa Rica with $88 million, El Salvador, with $25 million and Panama with $3 million.

Between the first quarter of 2017 and the same period in 2018, the export value from the region fell by 5%, decreasing from $938 million to $894 million.

The year-on-year contraction recorded in sales in the first quarter of 2018 is partly explained by the behavior of exports to the United States, which fell from $312 million to $275 million.   Price of exports

Due in large part to international grain prices, in the last six years the average price of regional coffee exports registered a clear downward trend, going from $4.51 per kilo in March 2012 to $3.10 in the same month in 2018.

In the first quarter of the year, 30% of the value exported from Central America went to the USA, 19% to Germany, 16% to Belgium, 6% to Italy and 4% to Canada.