India sees 7.36% drop in coffee exports to 350,000 tonnes in 2018

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Coffee exports from India declined 7.36 per cent on a year-on-year basis to 350,000 tonnes in 2018 owing to a fall in shipment of robusta and instant coffee varieties, according to Coffee Board.

In terms of value also, coffee exports dropped to Rs 5,770.48 crore in 2018 from Rs 6,091 crore in the previous year.

Italy was the top export market for India in 2018, as 76,437.56 tonnes of coffee was exported to the country followed by Germany (28,582 tonnes) and Russia (21,397 tonnes).

As per the Board's latest data, the country exported 350,280 tonnes of coffee in 2018 calendar year, lower than 378,119 tonnes in the previous year.

Out of which, export of robusta varieties showed a decline of 17.65 per cent at 179,903 tonnes in 2018 as against 218,463 tonnes in 2017.

The shipment of instant coffee also showed a decline of 39.87 per cent to 29,157 tonnes in 2018 calendar year as against 48,496 tonnes in the previous year.

However, there was slight increase in the shipment of arabica coffee varieties at 53,302 tonnes in 2018 as against 47,314 tonnes in 2017.

The shipments in terms of value remained lower even as the export realisation was higher at Rs 164,738 per tonne in 2018 as against Rs 161,086 per tonne in the previous year, the Board data showed.

Coffee production in India, Asia's third-largest producer and exporter of coffee, is estimated to be 316,000 tonnes in the marketing year that ended September 2018.