(Panama Digest) For the first time in its history, Panama will have to import coffee to supply local demand during the last four months of the year.
There is enough coffee to last until August, but Panama will have to import 32,000 quintals since the local market consumes 8,000 quintals a month.
Production was down 40 percent this year due to heavy rains, the flight of primary materials to Costa Rica and the attack of the rooster eye disease.
The Ministry of Agricultural Development says that there are 122,000 quintals of coffee in storage, but that 60,000 are already marked for export.
Panama cultivates nearly 48,000 acres of coffee and exported 10,695 60-kilo bags from October 2010 to February 2011, a total value of $2,985,000, La Prensa reports.