SAN JOSE: Coffee exports from Costa Rica rose 10.1 percent in May compared to the same month a year earlier, reaching 180,480 60-kg bags in the month, the country's national coffee institute ICAFE said on Tuesday.

ICAFE said exports through the first eight months of the current 2012/2013 harvesting season totaled 1.02 million bags, down 0.3 percent compared with the same eight-month period during the previous 2011/2012 season.

Costa Rica, one of the region's smaller producers, is known for its high-quality arabica beans.

Central America's major coffee-producing countries are all grappling with the rapid spread of roya, or coffee leaf rust, which is expected to dent production 16 percent during the current season.

The coffee season in Central American and Mexico, which together produce more than one-fifth of the world's arabica beans, runs from October through September.

<Center><b><i>Copyright Reuters, 2013</b></i><br></center>