TEGUCIGALPA: Honduran coffee exports slid 4.1% in December compared with the same month in the previous year due in part to lower production, the country’s national coffee institute IHCAFE said on Thursday.

Coffee shipments in December from Honduras, Central America’s top producer, totaled 339,608 60-kg bags, compared with 354,121 bags in the year-ago period.

Planned export contracts in December covering less supply and depressed prices also contributed to the December dip, according to IHCAFE Vice President Dagoberto Suazo.

“The export volume is due to sales contracts signed for December and the expected fall in production due to farmers being discouraged by low prices in the last harvest,” he said.

During the first three months of the current 2019/2020 harvesting season, Honduran coffee exports totaled 521,411 bags, down some 8.3% compared with the same three-month period during the 2018/2019 season, according to IHCAFE data.

IHCAFE forecasts shipments of 6.58 million bags during the 2019/2020 season, or a fall of about 3% compared with shipments of 6.81 million bags during the previous cycle. IHCAFE officials say the expected drop is due to lower prices as well as drought conditions that hit plantations during the previous crop.

The coffee season in Central America and Mexico, which together produce about a fifth of the world’s arabica beans, runs from October through September.—Reuters