Costa Rican Exports up by 20% in January

By the Tico Times

Costa Rican exports in January topped $836 million, the equivalent of an 18.6 percent increase over the same month in 2011, the Foreign Trade Ministry reported Monday. Exports in January 2011 totaled $705 million.

“January’s export numbers were excellent. As in 2011, we are continuing to see growth in many sectors and an increase in export markets," Foreign Trade Minister Anabel González said. “If this trend continues, 2012 will be a great year for the export sector and for the Costa Rican economy.”

North America remains Costa Rica's biggest market, with 43.4 percent of Costa Rica's exports, a total of $363 million. The European Union follows, with 17 percent of Tico exports, or $142 million, followed by Central America with 14.6 percent, or $122 million.

By the Tico Times

Tourism and Export Sectors Grow Strongly in Costa Rica

The Tico Times reported that the Costa Rican economy has shown strong growth in the first quarter of 2010, with Tourism and Exports being the primary drivers.

Marco Piñon, the IMF mission chief for Costa Rica, visited the country during the second week of April to conduct the third and final review of the IMF's $ 735 million Stand-By Arrangement with the Costa Rican government, a line of credit approved by the agency in April 2009 to “support the country's strategy to cope with the adverse global economic environment.”

During his weeklong visit, Piñon said that thanks to strong financial and business resurgence in the first few months of the year, the Costa Rican economy stands in good shape for 2010 and that “economic recovery in Costa Rica is firmly underway”.

“Economic growth rose in the second half of 2009 and remained strong in the first quarter of 2010,” Piñon said. “Consumer and business sentiment have firmed up and financial conditions have continued to improve. … The government's strategy to shield the economy from external shocks with (IMF) funds, which in the event were not used, helped preserve confidence, maintain stability, and protect the most vulnerable groups. A supportive fiscal policy has provided a boost to the recovery and a cautious monetary policy has allowed inflation to move to low levels.”

On Wednesday, the positive outlook was reinforced by an announcement by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) that 65,800 more tourists visited the country during the first three months of 2010 than during the same period in 2009, an 11.5 percent improvement over last year. The ICT estimates that over 636,000 tourists visited the country in the first three months of 2010.

Further evidence of the recovery was provided by the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER), which reported on Wednesday that national exports during the first three months of 2010 increased 16.8 % in comparison with the first quarter of 2009. Through the first three months of the year, the country raked in over $2.4 billion in exports, $352 million more than during the first quarter of 2009. A 463 percent improvement in sugar sales was the biggest highlight of the export sector. Sugar exports accounted for $29 million more during the first three months of 2010 than during the same period last year.

Read the full story in the Tico Times:
"Tourism and export sectors show strong first quarter"

By Adam Williams
Tico Times Staff | awilliams@ticotimes.net

New Free Trade Deal very Lucrative for Costa Rican Coffee Growers

* Free trade deal would open China to Costa Rica coffee
* Coffee drinking growing fast in tea-drinking country
* Some growers want high-quality beans protected

By Leslie Josephs SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, Nov 12 (Reuters)

A planned trade deal between Costa Rica and China might bring a bounty to coffee growers in the Central American country which has an advantage over its neighbors who are still allied with Beijing's rival Taiwan.

If a text is agreed for the trade pact, currently in the last round of negotiations, Costa Rica could become the third Latin American country after Chile and Peru to reach such a deal with China.
The tiny Central American nation is seeking "immediate access" of its high quality beans to the Asian giant, Costa Rica's chief negotiator, Fernando Ocampo said. China is Costa Rica's second-largest trade partner after the United States.

Last week, the two countries concluded a fifth round of free trade talks, but will draw up norms on coffee, sugar and other agriculture products in a sixth and final round of negotiation in mid-February.

On Thursday, coffee industry leaders from around the world are gathering in the Costa Rican province of Guanacaste for the annual Sintercafe three-day coffee conference.

Coffee demand in traditionally tea-drinking China has risen in recent years as the country's fast economic growth means a growing class of young, upwardly mobile consumers could be next to adopt coffee drinking habits.

"It's such a big market that there are always opportunities for different kinds of coffee," said Juan Carlos Vargas, general manager of Coopetarrazu, which groups 250 small producers in the lush Tarrazu region of western Costa Rica.

Vargas said the Chinese market is developing a taste for Costa Rica's fine coffee, not just cheaper, lower-quality Vietnamese robusta or domestically-grown coffee.

"They are going to be interested in our coffee. In fact, Starbucks is already there," he said.
Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O), a top buyer of Costa Rican coffee, has nearly 700 cafes in China now and sees the potential for thousands of new stores. China has seen double-digit growth in coffee sales in the past couple of years.

WANTS BEANS PROTECTED

Costa Rica ended a 60-year diplomatic ties with Taiwan and forged relations with mainland China in 2007. China shuns commercial relationships with governments like Guatemala -- Central America's No. 1 coffee producer -- that recognize Taiwan as a country.

But an untapped market of China's size is not enough to win the immediate support of all farmers, who have called on the government to protect the high-quality reputation of Costa Rican coffee with a certification clause in the trade pact.

Ronald Peters, executive director of the government-funded Costa Rica Coffee Institute, said local farmers worry Chinese importers could mix their specialty beans in blends and pass it off as Costa Rican, diluting the brand.

"We have a clear position in terms of demanding a strict origin norm to inform (buyers) that the Costa Rican coffee was produced in Costa Rica," Peters said.

Costa Rica's small-scale coffee farmers, who grow the famed beans on parcels of just 5 hectares or less, comprise more than 90 percent of the country's production.

Click here to read the full story by Leslie Josephs on Reuters