MIFIC sets the reference price for Arabica coffee at 311.78 dollars

The Ministry of Development, Industry, and Trade (MIFIC) set the International Reference Average Price for the 2025/2026 Coffee Year (PPRI) at US$311.78 for Arabica coffee and US$172.80 for Robusta coffee. The decision is contained in Ministerial Agreement MIFIC No. 010-2026, published in La Gaceta, Official Gazette No. 194 on Thursday, October 22, 2026, in the section of the Ministry of Development, Industry, and Trade, page 10283, and signed in Managua on October 19, 2026, by Minister Erwin Ramírez Colindres.

The contribution to be paid by exporters in 2027

The second point of the agreement translates those reference prices into a concrete obligation for the exporting sector. For the 2027 calendar year, the contribution to the Fund for the Transformation and Development of Coffee Farming (FTDC) is established as follows:

• US$4.00 for each quintal of Arabica coffee exported.
• US$2.50 for each quintal of Robusta coffee exported.

Both figures are set “in accordance with numeral 3 of article 5” of Law No. 853, “Law for the Transformation and Development of Coffee Farming,” with its consolidated amendments. The agreement provides, as a third point, for its publication in La Gaceta, Official Gazette, a requirement upon which the regulation enters into force.

How the figure was calculated

The PPRI is not a discretionary estimate: the agreement itself details the legal methodology applied. The calculation averages the daily prices of the three immediate positions of each session in two reference markets:

• The “C” contract of the New York exchange, for Arabica coffee.
• The London exchange, for Robusta coffee.

The period considered spans from October 1 to September 30 of the coffee year prior to the calendar year of the contribution. Based on this criterion, and as of September 30, 2026, the average for Arabica was US$311.78 and for Robusta US$172.80, according to the fourth and fifth recitals of the agreement.

Legal basis and annual publication obligation

The MIFIC acts based on Law No. 290, “Law of Organization, Competence, and Procedures of the Executive Branch,” its Regulations contained in Decree No. 71-98, and Law No. 1075, “Law of the Nicaraguan Legal Digest on Administrative Matters,” published in La Gaceta No. 170 on September 21, 2023. Minister Erwin Ramírez Colindres was appointed via Presidential Agreement No. 101-2025, published in La Gaceta No. 137 on July 28, 2025.

The text further recalls that numeral 4 of article 5 of Law No. 853 obligates the Ministry to monitor and disclose the evolution of the international price of coffee, and to publish the current PPRI within the first eight business days of October each year, in order to determine the contributions to the FTDC for the following calendar year. The publication of October 22 fulfills that mandate.

The recitals frame the measure within the National Program for the Transformation and Development of Coffee Farming (PNTDC), which the Government describes as a credit, technical assistance, infrastructure investment, training, and technology instrument to increase the production and productivity of the sector. The FTDC, created by Law No. 853, is constituted by the dollar contributions obtained for each quintal of arabica or robusta coffee exported during each calendar year.

Impact for the sector

The agreement arrives with the 2025/2026 coffee year already closed and defines the tax-sectoral cost that exporters will face starting in January 2027: each quintal of arabica shipped abroad will carry US$4.00 and each quintal of robusta US$2.50 destined for the coffee fund. For coffee exporters, the reference of US$311.78 and US$172.80 operates as the official calculation base and as a comparison parameter against effective sale prices, while the Ministry remains committed to disclosing the evolution of quotes during the current year.

Source: La Gaceta, Official Gazette No. 194 of October 22, 2026, section I (Ministry of Promotion, Industry and Commerce), p. 10283 (official reference: Ministerial Agreement MIFIC No. 010-2026; Reg. 2026-01031).