Coffee exports may dip by 10% in April-June

India's coffee exports may drop by 10 per cent to 56,416 tonnes during the April-June quarter in 2009 due to sluggish supply amid uncompetitive domestic prices against global rates, the Coffee Exporters' Association of India said today.

Last year, India had exported 62,684 tonnes of coffee during the April-June period, the official data showed.

"The overseas sale of Indian coffee may reduce by 10 per cent to 56,416 tonnes in the April-June period due to lower availability of the commodity following poor crop in the domestic market," Coffee Exporters' Association of India President Ramesh Rajah told PTI.

Supply of coffee bean is affected due to lower production of coffee, which is likely to dip by 45,000 tonnes to 2.3 lakh tonnes during 2008-09, compared with the government's estimates of 2.76 lakh tonnes for the same period, he said.

 

Production of coffee, which is harvested from December till March, declined as the crop was affected by unseasonal rains, he said.

"Moreover, the uncompetitive Indian coffee rates against Brazil and Indonesia has hit our export orders," Rajah said, Brazil is seen to have harvested good crop this year.

"Trade enquiries from the global market for Indian coffee has come down this month," he noted.