Coffee exports dip 21% in first 7 months

 
(c) Farangio via Stock Xchng.jpg 03-08-2009

NEW DELHI – The country’s coffee exports have declined by 21 per cent in the first seven months of the current calendar year to 1.17 lakh tons due to a fall in global demand following a rise in prices of Indian coffee, the Coffee Board said.

Coffee exports stood at 1.48 lakh tons in the corresponding period of the last year, it said.

Export orders have been less because of higher prices of Indian coffee compared to Vietnam, Brazil and the USA, a Board official said.

Indian coffee is quoting higher by 10-15 per cent than Vietnam and the USA in the international market, a trade source said.

According to Board data, arabica exports dipped by over 37.64 per cent to 22,707 tons between January and July this year from 36,414 tons in the corresponding period of the last year.

The shipment of robusta coffee, which has twice the amount of caffeine compared to arabica, also declined 12.03 per cent to 65,805 tons against 74,811 tons during the same period of the last year, it said.

Similarly, the export of instant coffee fell to 17,646 tons from 23,751 tons in the last year, it added.

Apart from high prices, lower coffee output in India has also hit the export volumes, the official said.

As per post-monsoon estimates, coffee output for 2008-09 stood low at 2.62 lakh tons from post-blossom estimates of 2.93 lakh tons, he said. India exports coffee to Italy, Russia, Germany, Belgium and Arab countries.