Global exports dip 8%: ICO

Global coffee exports declined by more than eight per cent in the first eight months of the current coffee year to 61 million bags of 60 kg each, according to the International Coffee Organisation (ICO). Coffee exports stood at 66.3 million bags in the same period last year. The coffee year officially starts in October and ends September.

The dip was recorded in both varieties of coffee — Arabicas declined by 7.34 per cent to 42.7 million bags and Robustas dipped by 9.44 per cent to 23.5 million bags.

ICO had estimated that during the calendar year 2009, global exports of coffee would be 95.5 million bags compared to 97.7 million bags in 2008.

The total exports were estimated at $13.2 billion in 2009 compared to $15.4 billion in 2008.

“The fall in the value of exports between 2008 and 2009 can be attributed not only to the fall in the prices of coffee over this period but also to the reduced volume of exports in 2009,” ICO said. Exports from India — the fifth-largest coffee producer in the world and the third-largest in Asia — increased by 42.64 per cent to 2.9 million bags during the first eight months of the coffee year from 2.1 million bags in the same period last year.