"Pineapple market going well, lesser volumes from Costa Rica"

The pineapple market has had peaks and dips this season. "It's going better at the moment", says an importer. "This is normal for the first few months of the year. The demand is good and there is less supply from Costa Rica."

According to the trader there are a lot of melons and mango's arriving from Costa Rica. "Exporters of these products offer shipping companies a lot more money for a container, so they give melons a higher priority. This means less pineapples are exported. The melon exporter's contracts were made in October and there's less space now for the 'separate boys'' pineapples.

"In January, February and March there is always little fruit coming from European countries and there is more demand for pineapple than in the summer." According to the trader the prices are currently between 8 an d9 euros. He indicates that the production in Costa Rica is at a high level and he doesn't believe the rumours of low volumes. "There are still between 4 and 5,000 containers leaving for export every week."