TEGUCIGALPA, April 3 (Reuters) - Honduran coffee exports in March climbed 14.4% year-on-year, helped by a surge in market demand, an industry executive said on Monday.

Central America's largest exporter shipped 841,411 60-kilo bags in March compared with 735,246 a year earlier, according to preliminary data from national coffee institute IHCAFE.

"This month, shipments rose as demand from abroad increased as well," a board member of the Honduran Coffee Exporters Association, Dagoberto Suazo, told Reuters.

Honduras' cumulative exports reached 2.218 million 60-kilo bags in March, nearly in line with the 2.225 million shipped in the same period of the 2021-2022 season.

Honduras plans to export some 5.52 million 60-kilo bags during the 2022-2023 harvest, up from 4.70 million 60-kilo bags shipped from the previous harvest.

The Central American country, which exports largely arabica coffee, harvests its crop from each October to the following September. (Reporting by Gustavo Palcencia; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Leslie Adler)