El Salvador: Coffee Being Stockpiled Until Prices Rise

The 40% drop in volume and export value in the past four months could be explained by producers stockpiling the product until there is a rise in international grain prices.

Coffee exporters in El Salvador are delaying selling while they wait for a possible rise in international grain prices. This is how the director of the Salvadoran Coffee Council (CSC) Hugo Hernandez, explained the situation in remarks published by Laprensagrafica.com.

This business strategy has led to "... Salvadoran coffee exports experiencing a fourth consecutive month of reductions, having decreased by 43.4% in the 2015-2016 cycle compared to the previous cycle, according to the CSC. The agency explained that between October 2015 and February 2016 the volume of exported grain was 144,545 hundredweight, with a value of $24.1 million and an average price of $166.48 per hundredweight. "

"... In the same period of the 2014-2015 cycle, the total amount exported was 255,405 hundredweight of coffee, valued at $50.8 million with an average price of $198.96 per hundredweight. That is to say, that in the current cycle 110,860 hundredweight less has been exported, while revenues were down $26.7 million, or 52.5%. In February exports of this grain fell by 38.9% and revenues by 49% compared to the same month in 2015."

Source: Laprensagrafica.com