COSTA RICA – Sales down 14% on year

MILAN – Costa Rica coffee industry has logged contracts for 1,468,523 bags in sales through June 5, reports the Costa Rican Institute, or Icafe.

This is 14% less than sales through the equivalent period last year, when 1,698,295 bags had been sold by June 5.

The volume of the 2008-09 crop sold to date is estimated at about 92% of Costa Rican coffee output from this harvest, Icafe said, adding the figure includes forward sales locked in months before the start of the 2008-09 cycle on Oct. 1.

The volume of 2008-09 crop from Costa Rica sold to date were fixed at an average price of $1.3886 a pound, below the average $1.4085 for coffee from the 2007-08 crop logged into contracts at this time last year.