Coffee exports from Honduras, Central America's top producer, dropped 5.5% during the 2018/2019 harvesting season and are likely to keep falling in the new season, the national coffee institute IHCAFE said on Tuesday. Honduran exporters shipped a total of 6.8 million 60-kg bags in the season, representing $950 million in sales. At the beginning of the season, IHCAFE had projected exporting 8.1 million bags.

Shipments in September, the last month of the harvest, fell 16.2% compared to the same period the year before, to 248,940 bags, according to IHCAFE data. Industry representatives attributed the poor figures to low prices worldwide.