Higher domestic output adds steam to coffee, exports up 43%.

Bangalore: Coffee exports from India surged by a whopping 43% in the first nine months of the coffee year that started in October 2009.

According to statistics available with the government-owned Coffee Board, the country exported 1.99 lakh tonne of coffee during this period, up from 1.40 lakh tonne recorded in the previous year. This was even higher than the exports recorded for the whole of the coffee year 2008-09 when the country’s total coffee exports stood at 1.79 lakh tonne.

The foreign exchange fetched through coffee exports also climbed up to $ 422 million during October 2009-June 2010 compared to $ 323 million fetched in the same period a year ago. However, the unit value of the commodity declined a bit due to sudden crash in the global market in the end of 2009. The unit value declined to Rs 1.01 lakh from Rs 1.10 lakh during the same period.

“The shipments have increased on the back of higher crop output during 2009-10 coffee year,” a Coffee Board official said.

In India the coffee year runs through October to September. The country’s coffee output per year has increased to 2.89 lakh tonne in the current year against 2.62 lakh tonne in the previous year.

Now with the Coffee Board releasing the post blossom estimation with higher crop forecast for the forthcoming coffee year 2010-11, market experts said the stockists will clear-off their inventories in the coming months.

The Coffee Board said the country is likely to witness a coffee output of 3,08,000 tonne in 2010-11, up 18% compared to the last year’s harvest. Arabica production is expected to increase by 5.2% to 99,500 tonne while Robusta production is likely to jump by 6.92% to 13,500 tonne.


Source : Financial Express