Coffee exports from Jamaica decreased by 58% in the first half of 2010

As of June 2010, Jamaica’s coffee exports totaled 10 million U.S. dollars, a decrease of 14 million U.S. dollars compared with the same period in 2009, and the Toya Coffee Bureau estimated that exports for 2010 will be 23.4 million U.S. dollars.

The head of the Toya Coffee Bureau stated that Japan’s continued economic downturn and the market’s stagnation as the largest buyer are the main reasons for the reduction in the export of coffee and the price reduction. The person in charge said that targeted marketing campaigns in the United States and Europe will ease the difficulties faced by the coffee.

In July, the Jamaican government signed an agreement to sell 7,300 kilograms of Blue Mountain coffee to China for approximately 1.7 million U.S. dollars in the next two years. The Secretary of Agriculture for Agriculture, Christopher Tufton, signed a memorandum of understanding with representatives from China and will sell Jamaican coffee in over 800 stores in China.