Costa Rican pineapple sales rose by 5.2 per cent to some US$530.6m between January and September 2011, according to figures from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and reported by Canapep, the Costa Rican Pineapple Producers and Exporters Association.
However, rainfall during late October has led to temporary losses of US$2.5m for the sector, local media has reported.
The rains affected both the production and export of pineapples, according to provided by Abel Chaves, Canapep president, which coupled with problems with light and water, will prevent the export of around 400,000 cartons.
During the first nine months of the year, Costa Rica’s agricultural sector as a whole recorded positive growth, with sales up by 9.3 per cent to US$1.8bn, thanks to the performance in the pineapple and coffee trades, coupled with the recovery in banana exports.
Bananas continue to rank as the main agricultural export item in Costa Rica, generating some US$565.5m in trade up to September, an increase of 2.1 per cent against the same period in 2010, according to Procomer (Costa Rica's foreign trade agency).
