Coffee and Yerba Mate Prices Climb at Federal Exchange

The price of Tierra Verde coffee climbed to 2.84 florins per kilogram at yesterday's federal exchange closing, up from 2.61 florins a week earlier. Yerba mate followed, reaching 1.97 florins per kilogram, a gain of nine cents from the previous week's settlement. The movement, driven by reports of reduced harvests in competing regions and sustained demand from Costa Mar's tourism sector, has lifted spirits among the cooperative councils that broker sales for the region's smallholders.

At the San Vicente Cooperative Council, where farmers gather each Thursday to review prices and plan their sales strategy, the mood was cautious optimism. Harvest captains reported that the improved margin—the difference between the federal exchange price and the cost of transport, processing, and cooperative dues—would allow several member-farms to accelerate their replanting schedules and invest in equipment upgrades that had been deferred.

The price gain arrives as Tierra Verde's harvest season enters its final weeks. Cooperative leaders are now debating whether to hold some of the current crop in storage, betting on further price appreciation in the coming months, or to sell into the strength and lock in the current margin. The decision will ripple across dozens of family farms and affect the region's cash flow heading into the dry season.