(prensa.com) An extremely poor harvest has pushed prices for a quintal of Panamanian coffee to record levels.
A quintal of coffee from the 2010-11 harvest now costs between $250 and $275. The price last year at this time was $140. Prices on the international market for Panama coffee have reached $290.
The poor harvest was caused by flooding that took place late in the year, decreasing the yield. Many of the plantations also reported a high number of crops destroyed by fungus.
Producers say the price increase has not benefited them because of the lower yields and higher production costs associated with the flooding. On some plantations, the yield has been cut by almost 50 percent.
Production has been so bad that there may be a need to import coffee to meet local demand, something that hasn’t happened before.
The Ministry of Agricultural Development estimates that the overall yield has been cut by 30 percent this year.