Costa Rica banana exports fall below 2010 expectations

Costa Rica's banana exports fell to US$109 million in January and February, compared to a result of US$123 million in the same period last year.

The data was released by the Central American country's Foreign Trade Promotion office, explaining the 2010 result was a recovery from poor 2009 figures of US$96 million.

National Banana Corporation (Corbana) general manager Jorge Sauma, told Nacion.com the recent result was due to the effects of Caribbean weather conditions.

He said temperatures fell during the two months, affecting the performance of banana crops due to the fruit's sensitivity, the story reported.

While Corbana's result for January and February was around 8% lower than in 2010, Sauma told the website he expected a rebound in the coming months.

Bananas are Costa Rica's main agricultural export product, accounting for US$702 million in sales last year, the story reported.