Comparing Costa Rica's exports during the first quarter of 2015 with those of the same period in 2014, banana shipments dropped by 24%, from 146 million dollars to 111.5 million, while pineapples fell by 15% (129 million to 110 million), according to information provided by PROCOMER.
Pineapples affected by the weather conditions
According to CANAPEP, the decrease in pineapple exports is due to the weather conditions, namely rainfall and low temperatures. To be precise, the irregular rain cycles last year caused delays in the planting, which affected the crop.
Because of the cold, it took much longer for the fruit to reach the desired Brix level, which has slowed the normal flow of shipments, resulting in market shortages and higher prices.
"The current shortages, caused by bad weather in Costa Rica, have led to pineapple boxes being marketed in Europe for between 10 and 13 Euro in the wholesale. We hadn't reached such a high price for a long time; it usually stands at around 7-8 Euro," reported an exporter to FreshPlaza.
In fact, the rainy conditions expected this year suggest there will be a reduction of exports from May to September of about 5%, with volumes recovering in 2016.
Banana exports dropped by 24%
In the case of bananas, CORBANA explained that exports have also been affected by the weather conditions, since the rains of December 2014 will have an impact on production in the first quarter of 2015. However, a rebound in exports is expected from April.
In general, the value of goods exported by Costa Rica fell by 17.5% in January and February this year compared to the same period in 2014, going from 1,824 million dollars last year to 1,504 million in 2015.
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