Global coffee exports dip by 9.6% in Oct-Mar of this crop year

The world coffee exports dipped by 9.6 per cent to 44.7 million bags in the first six months of the 2009-10 crop year (October to September) due to tight supplies, the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) said.

The global coffee exports was 49.4 million bags (one bag contains 60 kg of coffee) in the year-ago period, it said.

"...Coffee supplies continue to be threatened by climatic problems in a number of exporting countries. As a consequence, a number of exporting countries have revised their estimates (production) downward, particularly Vietnam," ICO said in its monthly report.

The world coffee production has reached 4.6 million bags so far in the 2009-10 crop year, which is lower than the 5.8 million bags for the same period last year.

"The level of recovery (in production level) will depend on the performance of the remaining five months of the 2009-10 crop year," said ICO, which has pegged global coffee output to be down by 4.8 per cent at 122 million this year.

According to ICO data, the shipment from Brazil, the world's leading coffee exporter, dipped to 15.32 million bags during the first six months of the 2009-10 crop year. In the same period last year, Brazil had exported 16.81 million bags.

Vietnam, the world's second biggest exporter of the commodity, shipped 7.75 million bags, sharply down from 9.97 million bags due to lower crop and the government's stockpiling plan, the report said.

Indonesia also recorded a decline to 2.2 million bags from 2.35 million bags. However, India exported a slightly higher quantity of coffee during the period under review. Its shipments rose to 1.98 million bags from 1.46 million bags.

ICO also noted that there could be uncertainly in the world coffee market over the next few months in the wake of tight supply-demand situation and concerns of weather conditions affecting production in few countries.