TEGUCIGALPA, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Honduras' coffee exports in the 2024/25 season are seen up 14.5% from the previous period to 5.37 million 60-kg bags, industry leaders said on Tuesday, despite fears that shipments could be hurt by an EU regulation set to take effect at the end of the year.

Central America's largest exporter of the bean sees exports boosted by better production this year as harvesting for the new season kicks off, Pedro Mendoza, head of Honduras' coffee organization IHCAFE said.

"The farms are better, farmers have given them more care this year," Mendoza said in an interview.

He warned, however, of a requirement from the European Union that would demand imported beans come from areas not linked with deforestation.

The rule would ban sales of coffee - as well as cocoa, soy, palm oil, wood, rubber and cattle - if companies are unable to prove the product comes from an area where forests haven't been cut down in recent years.

Mendoza said that most of Honduras' coffee crop is grown under trees in the shade, a traditional coffee-growing method thought to produce a richer bean.

However, farmers still do not have the documentation ready to be able to export to the EU once the rule takes effect at the end of the year, Mendoza said.

"We're worried," he said. "Europe is the destination for around 55% of our exports."

Mendoza added that Honduran growers were requesting an extension to the deadline, similar to the International Coffee Organization and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) last month.

CELAC called on the EU to find a way which still sought to prevent deforestation while also "taking the reality on the ground into consideration."

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https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/honduras-202425-coffee-exports-seen-up-15-despite-eu-trade-fears-2024-10-01/