October saw a remarkable upswing in Costa Rican coffee exports, with figures soaring to almost 120% over the same period in the previous year, as per the initial reports from the national coffee institute ICAFE. The total exports for the month, which marks the commencement of the 2023/2024 coffee harvest season, reached around 19,200 bags, each weighing 60 kilograms.
Requests for comments on the unexpected October increase, typically a month of lower export volumes, went unanswered by ICAFE. Despite being one of the smaller coffee producers in Central America, Costa Rica’s arabica beans are renowned for their superior quality.
ICAFE’s projections for the current coffee harvest anticipate a production of 1.465 million bags, showing a marginal decline of 0.2% from the previous season. The coffee harvest season in Central America and Mexico traditionally spans from October through September.