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Article: In search of clues on coffee
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- November 17, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1998 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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SAN JOSE, Costa Rica The world's biggest coffee growers, traders
and buyers gathered in Costa Rica Monday, with the hurricane-ravaged
crops in Central America high on their agenda.
Hurricane Mitch, one of the strongest hurricanes this century,
killed thousands in Central America when it struck late last month,
and the severity of the storm left many in the coffee industry
wondering just how much damage was caused to crops that produce 12
percent of the world's coffee exports.
Local agriculture officials told the conference that Mitch wiped
out 20 percent of the Honduras crop, 13 percent in Guatemala, 15
percent in El Salvador and 10 percent in Nicaragua. Also, floods and
mudslides ...