RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Honduras, Central America’s largest coffee exporter, has reduced its 2020/21 coffee shipment projection by 8.3% due to deeper than initially estimated rust damage to crops, said Napoleón Matute, head of the Honduran Coffee Institute (IHCAFÉ).
He explained that the humidity caused by the devastating floods from hurricanes Eta and Iota late last year encouraged the spread of rust, damaging coffee crops.
“The more than 25 days of rainfall from storms Eta and Iota created a degree of humidity on farms and spurred the disease,” Matute said on Wednesday.
Matute said that IHCAFÉ now expects exports of 5.139 million 60-kg sacks this season, down 8.3% from the most recent estimate, released in January, which contemplated a reduction of almost 11% compared to the initial projection for the September harvest.
The new estimate also takes into account the impacts of grain smuggling into Guatemala and, “to a lesser extent,” Nicaragua, although data on its impact on total exports have not been provided.
Eta and Iota hit Central America hard, particularly Honduras and Guatemala, with heavy rainfall causing flooding and landslides, damaging crops and road infrastructure.