Exports of Colombian coffee fell by 20.2% in the period 2009-2010, pushed down by the strength of the peso and by a poor harvest caused by bad weather.
With the exception of Nicaragua and Honduras, all coffee-producing Latin American countries saw their exports of coffee drop, namely Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic and El Salvador saw a greater fall in their exports than Colombia, of 65.5% and 27.4% respectively.
In the period September 2009 to October 2010 23.2 million 60kg bags of coffee were exported from these countries. In the period 2008-2009 this number reached 25.7 million bags.
According to the National Association of Coffee (Anacafe) the exports of the nine Latin American coffee producing countries, excluding Brazil, dropped by an average of 9.56% in 2009-2010.
Colombia’s agriculture minister warned earlier in October that a fungus affecting coffee plants is likely to further depress output in the coming year.
