MEXICO CITY: Costa Rican coffee growers exported 75.5% more beans in January compared to the year-earlier period, the Coffee Institute (Icafe) of the Central American country said on Tuesday.

Growers sent 87,696 60-kilo bags to the international market in the first month of the year, compared to 49,960 bags in January of 2020.

“This increase is due to factors like the progress of the harvest, which has managed to satisfy contracts that were already ready,” said Alcides Quiros, an Icafe official. “It’s also due to the container crisis, because many exporters are anticipating a bigger crisis in the peak season and have wanted to bring forward shipments.”

The uptick brings accumulated exports of the current coffee cycle, which runs from October to September, to 169,501 bags, a 22.3% increase from the 2020-2021 period. Some 30,000 Costa Rican growers end the harvest season in February, which is expected to be 8.92% lower than the previous harvest.