The indicative price of the pound of coffee on the international market closed at $1.82 in February, after hovering for almost two years between $1.50 and $1.70.
Coffee is the second most exported agricultural product by El Salvador, behind sugar.
The international market pound of coffee closed at $1.82 last February, its best price in 17 years, according to records from the International Coffee Organization (OIC).
The institution, of which El Salvador is a member, has been producing the composite indicator price (ICO) since 1960 as a reference for the sale of aromatic on the international market. This is one of the thermometers most consulted by the coffee industry, especially those who depend on the fluctuation of Contract C, a stock exchange mechanism subject to the market swing.
The ICO is the average quotation of six coffee groups: soft Colombians, some soft, native to Brazil, robust, New York and London.
The ICO tour shows the pound of coffee closed at $1.82 in February, 4.2 percent higher than the value recorded in the same month of 2023 and 3.4 percent above the $1.76 of January 2024.
The price of the aromatic plipped in October 2022, after more than a year of bonanza that led the quintal to exceed $250. This cut marked a setback and in the following months fluctuated between $150 and $180.
Market conditions
According to the OIC, the price of robust varieties coffee hit its highest price since November 1994, after an average of $1.53 a pound.
On the market it is divided into two large coffee groups: the robust, with stronger notes and twice the caffeine, and the arabic type – for many considered the best, which has more balanced and soft flavors.El Salvador is mainly a producer of Arabic varietiesLike Bourbon and Pacaramara.
A note from the Salvadoran Coffee Institute (ISC) on March 8 details that Arabica coffee prices have fallen in the last week due to the best weather prospects in Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer, which alleviated concerns about a drought in production areas.
That way, the fifth coffee to deliver in May 2024 closed at $185.20.
Since a sharp drop in aromatic listing in 2017, the Salvadoran coffee sector has plunged into a deep crisis because the value paid for each quintal was not enough to cover the costs.
The item also faceslow production since 2013 after the strike of the rockWith a yield of 3.8 quintals grape per apple, far from the 20 quintals obtained in the 1990s.
This article has been translated from the original which first appeared in Diario El Mundo