Honduras, Central America’s top coffee producing country, and the third ranked coffee producing country in the Americas was significantly more affected by the coffee rust outbreak than originally expected with 25% of total cultivated coffee acreage damaged. However, the country is expected to rebound next season with its second biggest harvest on record according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) bureau in Tegucigalpa. Output is expected to rebound to 4.98 million bags in 2014/15 by the USDA because of an expansion in tree area and a rust-resistant replanting program begun five years ago. Currently, about 60% of Honduras’ coffee trees are of a rust-resistant variety. The recuperation within the industry should lift Honduran exports to 4.7 million bags in 2014/15 up from 4.2 million bags this season and will lift Central American exports as a whole by 7.5% to 12.6 million bags if including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, and Guatemala. Combined coffee production forecasts for the five countries indicate that total regional production will increase 5.8% year on year to 14.55 million bags in 2014/15.
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