Guatemala, November 8th, 2018. According to information from the data analysis consultant on economic, financial and socio-political issues, Central American Business Intelligence -CABI-, the GDP of the Agro Sector increased during the second quarter of this year by 3.9% year-on-year, the largest increase the sector has had in the last four years.

On the other hand, in its report, CABI revised the national GDP growth for 2018 falling from 3% to 2.8%, while the growth perspective of the Agro GDP continues at 1.5%. Now the price of the main raw materials produced in Guatemala such as coffee and sugar improved during September; however, it is expected that such increase will end during the beginning of November for market reasons.

As of the second quarter of 2018, the GDP of Main Agricultural Products increased considerably, except for some where it contracted 2.58% year-on-year, including sugar cane, flowers and tobacco. The crop with the highest growth during this same period was coffee with 5.14% y-o-y.

According to the inflationary performance of foods, during September the products that presented the greatest increase in cost were tomatoes, onions and beans; those that most reduced this value were legumes, corn, oranges, bananas, among others.

Regarding the levels of the external sector or exports, several products showed a considerable fall in the total exported, these were sugar with 29%, natural rubber with 18%, coffee with 6.3%, cereals with 4.4% and meat with 4.2%. The decrease was mainly due to factors such as the drop-in price, the increase since 2017 and the downward cycle of the economy.

Finally, the forecast on the value of soft raw materials is positive, although market conditions (supply and demand) will not allow it to be sustainable for long.