Rising coffee prices spark boom in coffee-growing regions

Santo Domingo.- Global coffee prices have reached record highs, benefiting Dominican coffee-growing regions amid one of the country’s best harvests in years. On November 14, Arabica coffee was priced at $285 per 100 pounds on the New York Stock Exchange, the highest in a decade. Locally, industries are paying over RD$16,000 per quintal of washed coffee, providing a boost to farmers.

The price surge is partly due to drought in Brazil, the world’s top coffee producer, where adverse weather has reduced yields. Similar to 2011, when climate change drove prices up, Brazil’s output has dropped, with average yields declining to 28.8 bags per hectare.

In the Dominican Republic, productivity is recovering after years of decline. While yields once fell to 35 pounds per task, new efforts have increased output to as much as 120 pounds per task on model plantations, promising further growth fueled by favorable global market conditions.