The drop in international prices and the climate difficulties were the main reasons for the 5% reduction in the value exported from Costa Rica last year compared to 2018.
Data from the Foreign Trade Promotion Agency (Procomer) show that between 2018 and 2019, exports of the fruit decreased from $983 million to $930 million, which is equivalent to a negative variation of 5%.
At the beginning of 2019 there were 44,500 hectares dedicated to fruit cultivation in Costa Rica, however, because of high production costs and a drop in international prices, by 2021 the cultivated area could fall to 38,000 hectares.
Directors of the National Chamber of Pineapple Producers and Exporters (Canapep) explained that the fall in the price of pineapple internationally is because of increased competition, since countries such as Colombia, Ecuador and Panama, have managed to gain market share in the U.S. and Europe.
After reaching a $200 million record in exports in 2016, in 2018 the value of pineapple juice sold by Costa Rican companies abroad fell to $104 million.
According to the annual report "Foreign trade in the agricultural sector", published by the Executive Secretariat of Agricultural Sector Planning (Sepsa), in the last two years’ pineapple juice exports have reported a downward trend, from $200 million to $156 million between 2016 and 2017, and from $156 million to $104 million between 2017 and 2018.
An activity that generates nearly $1 billion a year in Costa Rica in exports is being seriously threatened by the infiltration of drug traffickers, who are taking advantage of loopholes left open by the government because it does not have an adequate system for checking containers and registering exporters.
The most recent seizure of 45 kilos of drugs that arrived in the United States in the corrugated bottom of 20 cardboard boxes of pineapples from San Carlos has once again set alarm bells ringing in the export sector, which has ceaselessly demanded that authorities to go back to the "in situ" review system of cargo, which used to be carried out before and stopped during the Solís administration.
Low international prices, overproduction and greater competition from markets such as the Philippines, is worrying Costa Rican pineapple exporters.
On top of those factors is also the fact that exports to China have not grown as much as expected, due to complications faced in getting the product there in perfect condition.According to the exporters themselves, this difficulty"... is taking Costa Rica out of the market, as it takes between 28 and 30 days to arrive and it is estimated that a maximum of 20 days is required to maintain the quality intact."
There only remains a technical visit to be made by Chinese authorities in order to complete the evaluation process and start exporting pineapples to China.
Estimates by the SFE indicate that there are 20 companies interested in exporting pineapples to China.
Abel Chaves, president of the National Chamber of Producers and Exporters of Pineapple (Canapep), told Elfinancierocr.com that"...'Before thinking about production volumes we have to think about how much demand will grow, the pricing scheme that the market will have and the logistics to get the product there.But the answer to whether we can make the cut is yes.'"
In the first half of the year interceptions of goods in the US suspected of being contaminated with insects rose by 32% compared to the same period in 2015.
Data provided by the health authorities of the United States to Costa Rica indicates that most of the detained shipments were stopped on suspicion of the presence of the cochineal bug.
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