Coffee exports rebound by 60% to 2.71 lakh tonnes in 2009-10

The country's coffee exports surged by 60 per cent to 2,71,859 tonnes in the 2009-10 crop year, ending September, on the back of higher production, the Coffee Board said today.

"Higher domestic supply has driven exports. The shipments have risen to 2.71 lakh tonnes this year from the low of 1.78 lakh tonnes last year," a senior board official told PTI.

Though the realisation was marginally lower at Rs 1,02,524 per tonne, overall exports in value terms rose by 43 per cent to Rs 2,787 crore in the 2009-10 crop year from Rs 1,954.37 crore last year, he said.

India, Asia's biggest coffee exporter, harvested 2.89 lakh tonnes of coffee in the 2009-10 crop year, which runs from October to September.
    
Coffee Exporters Association President Ramesh Rajah said: "Exports have no doubt rebounded this year after sliding to the level of 10-year-low last year, thanks to the sufficient supply of export-quality coffee."
    
Out of 2.71 lakh tonnes, India is estimated to have shipped as much as 1,00,000 tonnes of arabica variety coffee, besides robusta varieties, mainly to Italy, Russia and Germany, he said.
    
He further observed that India's realisation per tonne of coffee exports was marginally lower in 2009-10, as shipments were made to Europe at reasonable prices, even though coffee rates in the New York market were ruling higher by 20 per cent.
    
Going forward, exports in the new 2010-11 crop year, starting this month, would be same as last year, as output in 2010-11 is likely to be around 3 lakh tonnes, he added.