Pineapple Overtakes Coffee As Second-Highest Export

PINEAPPLE displaced coffee as thesecond-highest export product from CostaRica this year. Sales totaled $180.7 millionin the third quarter of the year, 30%more than the same period in 2003,according to statistics from the ForeignTrade Promotion Office (PROCOMER).Pineapple registered one of the bestperformances in the agricultural sector inthe third trimester, favored by improvementsin pineapple growth and increasesin the euro against the dollar, which hashelped increase exports to Europe.Europe is the destination of 40% ofCosta Rican pineapple exports, with theremainder going to the United States.According to PROCOMER theincrease in pineapple exports is only apart of an overall good performance ofthe agriculture industry this year, whichexported $1.07 billion in the first threetrimesters of the year – 8.6% more thanthe same period last year.Coffee, which years ago was the primaryexport product, registered sales of$174.8 million in the third trimester,while bananas, the current number-oneexport product, exceeded $404.1 millionin exports.