Specialty coffee exports decline

Indian speciality and value-added coffee exports declined 5.09 per cent to 69,704 tonnes during the last coffee crop year (October 2007-September 2008) compared with the previous crop year (2006-07). In value terms, exports were up 9.38 per cent at Rs 758.33 crore as against Rs 693.29 crore registered in the previous year, according to Coffee Board statistics.

Speciality coffee comprises monsooned coffees (derived from coffee beans exposed to south-west monsoon rains and then manually processed) both Arabica and Robusta are under two grades — Monsooned Malabar AA and Monsooned Robusta AA.

Of the total export, speciality coffee constituted around 15 per cent at 10,298 tonnes while the remaining 85 per cent was value-added coffee at 59,406 tonnes.

Ashok Kurian, speciality coffee grower and president, Specialty Coffee Association of India (SCAI), said, “These coffees sell at a premium in major European and US markets. During the crop year (2007-08) due to unseasonal rains while harvesting, lots of good coffees became bad thereby creating a shortfall of 10-15 per cent in production of speciality and value-added coffee.”

On the price front, the shortfall and increase in global coffee prices led to premiums going up between $250 and $350 per tonne for Robusta grades over and above the normal coffee trading prices, he added. Arabica parchment fetched Rs 120-151 per kg, Robusta all grades averaged between Rs 90 and Rs 115 per kg, and Arabica cherry between Rs 105 and Rs 125 per kg.

According to the Coffee Board, during the crop year 2007-08, about 56,546 tonnes of speciality and value-added coffee were exported up to July 31. Speciality coffee constituted 9,209.20 tonnes while value-added was 47,336.9 tonnes.