• by IPS Correspondents (lima)
• Wednesday, December 14, 1994
• Inter Press Service

LIMA, Dic 14 (IPS) - Peru's 200 million dollar income from 1994 coffee exports is nearly three times last year's total due to sharp price increases on the international market, according to Chamber of Exports President Ernesto Hanspach.

However, Hanspach added that these figures do not reflect the actual increase in volume of coffee exported, which rose from 700,000 sacks (of 69 kilogrammes each) last year to just under 900,000 in 1994.

"Coffee prices on the world market have shot up as a result of the crisis in Brazil - the world's leading (coffee) producer - where early frosts caused a reduction in the harvest of some six to nine million sacks," he said.

According to a Central Reserve Bank report, the increased coffee income caused 116 percent growth in Peru's agricultural sector between the second and third quarters of the year.

International sales of agricultural products between July and September reached 105 million dollars, of which 98.1 million corresponded to coffee sales - nearly five times the 23.8 million registered in the previous three months, while the January-March period saw just 11.9 million dollars in coffee exports.

The report noted that the reduced supply of Brazilian coffee caused prices to quadruple in 1994, reaching a record 2.74 dollars a pound on July 13. After a slight fall, prices began to rise again in October.

However, the bank warned that the windfall profits in the coffee sector would begin to disappear once Brazilian producers recuperate from the frosts and reestablish the massive supply.

Although Peru's agricultural exports are overshadowed by the mining and fishing industries, 25 percent of the economically active population works in the agricultural sector.

The disadvantages of an overvalued national currency and high energy and fertiliser prices are offset by tariffs that protect Peruvian farmers from external competition.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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