Coffee exports down 4.45% during January-June period

Less improvement in the global price situation has led to country's lowered coffee shipments to 1,91,055 tonnes during Jan-June period, 2013

India’s coffee exports fell marginally by 4.45 per cent to 191,055 tonnes in the first six months of the current calendar year due to sluggish global prices on possible higher production from other countries.

The country had shipped 199,969 tonnes in the same period last year, according to the Coffee Board data. “Since there was not much improvement in the global price situation, our coffee shipments have lowered to 191,055 tonnes during January-June period of this year,” a senior Coffee Board official said. In value terms too, overall coffee exports remained slightly lower at Rs 2,818.35 crore during the review period as against Rs 2,955.35 crore in January-June, 2012, he said. As per the Board data, robusta coffee exports fell by seven per cent to 1,03,296 tonnes in the first six months of 2013, against 110,983 tonnes in the year-ago period.

The shipment of arabica variety fell by a little over 4 per cent to Rs 39,367 tonnes from Rs 41,026 tonnes, while the export of instant coffee declined by 32 per cent to Rs 12,153 tonnes from Rs 17,826 tonnes in the review period. The export realisation was lower at Rs 1,47,515 per tonne, it added. According to experts, Indian exporters are cautious in taking export orders as there is sluggishness in global prices because higher supplies are expected from major coffee- producing countries like Brazil, Vietnam and Indonesia this year. Most of the Indian coffee has been shipped to Italy, Germany and Russian Federation, the Board said. The board has pegged coffee production at 315,500 tonnes in the 2012-13 crop year (October-September), a marginal increase of 1,500 tonne over the final estimate of 314,000 tonne in 2011-12.