As of writing this, the price of Arabica coffee on the C-market is $.97 per pound, back under a dollar. Yet again. This isnโt news. The price has been hovering more or less around a dollar for two and a half years now; it hasnโt reach $1.50 since 2016. The price crisis has been a constant threat to the livelihoods of producers approaching a decade now. And now, Guatemala has announced its plans to leave the International Coffee Organization due to its inaction in the face of the crisis.
As reported by Reuters, the Central American country has โbegun the process of leaving the International Coffee Organizationโ citing โconcerns over the falling prices of the commodity.โ Comprised of 43 producing countries and 33 importing countriesโnotably absent from this list is the United Statesโthe ICO represent 99% of the worldโs coffee production and 67% of its consumption, per their website, with a goal of โ[strengthening] the global coffee sector and [promoting] its sustainable expansion in a market-based environment for the betterment of all participants in the coffee sector.โ Some Guatemalan officials believe the ICO has not done enough to this end.
โThe ICO had lost its way,โ states Ricardo Arenas, head of the board of directors for Anacafe, Guatemalaโs National Coffee Association. โIt has needed to be restructured.โ
According to Reuters, many of the countryโs smallholder farmers, which comprise roughly 97% of all Guatemalan producers, โsustained losses in the current harvest,โ this coming despite premium price points being paid for their coffees.
Though no official declaration of withdrawal has been given by Guatemala, the ICO expressed their desire for Guatemala to remain and instead to โwork with other members to develop a new pact.โ The ICO went on to note that they are unable to regulate the C-market, thus having no real control over the price at which coffee sells on it.
The next steps for Guatemala, should they choose to move forward with their plans to exit the ICO, remain unclear. Could this be the first step in the country removing their coffee from being traded on the C-market entirely?
Zac Cadwaladerย is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas.ย Read more Zac Cadwaladerย on Sprudge.
Top image ยฉ Adobe Stock/DOC RABE Media
