Honduras coffee exports jump 71 percent in June

TEGUCIGALPA: Honduran coffee exports jumped 71.3 percent in June compared with the same month last season, lifted by an increase in output, the national coffee institute (IHCAFE) said on Monday.

Shipments from the largest coffee exporter in Central America totaled some 972,969 60-kg bags in June, compared with 567,759 bags in the same month last year, according to a preliminary report from IHCAFE.

Cumulative October-through-June exports totaled 5.9 million bags, or more than a third more than the 4.3 million bags shipped during the same period of the previous cycle.

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.

IHCAFE expects exports to grow by 40 percent during the current 2016/2017 season to reach 7.2 million bags as the region recovers from an earlier outbreak of the tree-killing roya fungus.