Rises in the export of ‘non-traditional’ products such as leather, bananas, flowers and coal helped to offset declines in the country’s staple exports of coffee and oil during April, Colombia’s National Statistics Department (DANE) has revealed.

Non-traditional exports collectively increased 37 percent during the month to reach $553 million.  In the first four months of 2001, non-traditional exports totalled $2.165 billion – a 17.52 percent increase on the same period in 2000.  No breakdown of individual sectors was disclosed.

Coffee exports declined in April by 36.2 percent to $62.7 million. Exports of coffee from January to April fell to $238 million, down 25.7percent year-on-year. Exports of oil – the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner – fell by 21.7% to $260 million in April, mainly as the result of leftist terrorist activity.