World coffee exports up 9.6% in Oct-Feb

Global coffee exports rose by 9.6 per cent to 46.5 million bags in the first five months of the current coffee year on significant rise in shipments from Indonesia and Vietnam, according to the International Coffee Organisation (ICO).

Exports from India, on the other hand, were down marginally in the October-February period.

The worldwide coffee shipments stood at 42.42 million bags (of 60 kg each) in the same period of the 2011-12 coffee year (October-September), the global body said.

"Exports in February 2013 reached 8.6 million bags, bringing the total volume for the first five months of the coffee year to 46.5 million bags," ICO said in a report.

The rise in shipments during the October-February period was mostly due to increased exports of robusta varieties, along with small increases in Colombian Milds and Brazilian Naturals, it said.

Export from Brazil, the world's largest coffee exporter, fell slightly to 13.40 million bags during October-February, from 13.5 million bags in the same period last year.

However, the shipments from Vietnam, the world's second largest coffee exports, rose to 10.25 million bags from 8.7 million bags, while exports from Indonesia increased to 4.92 million bags from 2.61 million bags in the review period.

Exports from Colombia rose to 3.56 million bags from 3.33 million bags in the said period. Whereas exports from India marginally declined to 1.77 million bags in the first five months of the 2012-13 coffee year from 1.92 million bags in the year-ago period.

In terms of world production in the 2012-13 crop year, ICO said that the total is now estimated at 144.6 million bags, a 6.4 per cent increase on the previous year.

"The damage caused by coffee leaf rust in Central America has been compensated by increased production in other countries, particularly Brazil, Indonesia and Ethiopia," it said, adding that the current outbreak of coffee leaf rust in Central America is considered one of the worst ever recorded.

Coffee production in crop year 2012-13 has been severely affected in Central America and it is likely that the impact on the 2013-14 crop will be even worse, it added.