Costa Rican production fell, coffee exports fell by nearly 30%

Costa Rica's coffee exports fell 28 percent in January compared with the same month last year, mainly due to lower harvests and strong international supplies, according to figures released by Costa Rica's coffee agency ICAFE.

According to ICAFE, the total cargo volume for January was 60,757 bags of 60 kilograms each. Costa Rica expects to export approximately 1.3 million bags in the current 2023/24 harvest season, a decrease of nearly 13 per cent compared to shipments in the previous cycle. Costa Rican officials say bad weather conditions and a possible glut of Arabica in global markets are putting pressure on prices.

Costa Rica exports coffee mainly to the United States and the European Union, but to sell coffee beans in the EU, it must comply with the EU's earlier Deforestation Free Regulation (EUDR), which stipulates that no person or enterprise can sell products related to deforestation in the EU market, including coffee and cocoa. The regulation will have an adaptation period of 18-24 months and will come into force as soon as the end of December 2024. As a result, many importers are afraid to import coffee, and many coffee-producing countries have responded to the regulations, but they have invested a lot of money in the process.

Recently, accidents have also occurred in San Jose, Costa Rica. According to an earlier report in Costa Rica's El País newspaper, since the end of January, Costa Rica's tap water and sewer (AyA) has begun to receive complaints from residents of several counties in San Jose province, saying that tap water smells of gasoline, and many people have symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.

AyA and the Ministry of Health later confirmed that tap water was contaminated with hydrocarbons and advised against drinking tap water, not using tap water for food preparation or washing, and not using boiled water. After investigation, University of Costa Rica (UCR) researchers ruled out the possibility that the contaminated water contained gasoline or diesel, but it is still unclear what the specific pollutants are.

However, water supplies are currently contaminated in several areas and the crisis continues. And some industry insiders say that water pollution will also affect land. The reason is that hydrocarbons leak into the surrounding soil, and when oily substances enter the soil, they will destroy the soil structure, reduce the water permeability of the soil, change the physical properties of the soil, and reduce the activity of the soil. Therefore, there are concerns about the quality and yield of future agricultural products such as coffee in the region.