Coffee exports poised to slip

NEW DELHI: Coffee exports are likely to fall by up to 18,000 tonne in the current season ending September, 2007, compared to last year, owing to lower output coupled with an appreciating rupee.

“We do not expect much shipment in September. The final export figure for the current coffee year would be 16,000-18,000 tonne less than last year,” said Coffee Exporters’ Association chairman Ramesh Rajah. India exported 2.36 lakh tonne of coffee during the 2005-06 season. The coffee year runs from October to September.

According to the Coffee Board’s data, exports during October-August, 2006-07 are estimated at nearly 2.11 lakh tonne (worth Rs 1,776 crore), down 6% from the previous year’s 2.24 lakh tonne (Rs 1,704 crore). Mr Rajah attributed the fall in exports volume to lower production and the appreciating rupee.

Asked about the increase in exports in value terms, Mr Rajah said this was because global coffee prices had gone up. “Shipments have slowed down from May onward,” he said, adding that the slowdown was likely to continue in the first quarter of the next season.

However, Mr Rajah felt the situation could improve from January, 2008 after new crops arrived in the market.

Meanwhile, increased prices of coffee in the global market helped India earn an estimated $191.9 million from exports in the current fiscal till August, against $196.32 million in the year-ago period, even though the volume fell 23%.

According to the Coffee Board, exports of Arabica and Robusta fell 22.72% to 91,807 tonne during April-August, 2007, compared to 1,18,799 tonne in the corresponding period of 2005-06. In August, exports stood at nearly 15,000 tonne.

However, unit value realisation increased 16.44% to Rs 88,035 per tonne from Rs 75,605 a tonne in the current fiscal so far.