With the signing of the accession protocol to the free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea and Central America by the country's government last Monday, there is a favorable starting point for grain, said the president of the National Association of the sector, José Tulio. Gonzalez.
The manager argued that with the entry into force of the agreement on the entry into the coffee market in this Asian country, there will be parity with the other states of this region.
González specified that of Guatemala's total exports in 2023, coffee ranked second in terms of foreign exchange generation and first in agricultural exports, with $944 million.
However, the 2021-2022 harvest resulted in international sales of 1,136.18 million, a decrease of -12.4 percent since – according to González – the price fell significantly last season.
Data from the National Coffee Association (Anacafé) shows that 3.9 million quintals of gold coffee were exported, with the main destination being the United States (41 percent of the total).
Broken down by country, there are Japan (12 percent), Belgium (10), Canada (eight), Italy (five), Germany, South Korea and China (four), Taiwan and the Netherlands (two), while others occupy eight percent .
Of the economic blocs, 49 percent arrived in North America; the 26th to Asia; 22 percent to Europe and three percent to the rest of the world.
Coffee is available in all departments of this Central American territory, with 125,000 families directly dependent on its cultivation, mainly producers from small areas.
Annually (from October 1st of each year to September 30th of the next year) the sector creates around half a million jobs, particularly in medium and large production units.
According to the Bank of Guatemala, clothing items and coffee are the top sellers in foreign sales, followed by cooking fats and oils, bananas and sugar.
Lam/Znc