Coffee exports decline 11 per cent in May

NEW DELHI: India's coffee exports declined by 11 per cent to 34,415 tonnes in May this year, according to the latest Coffee Board data.

The country had shipped 38,459 tonnes of the brew in the same month of 2011.

In the first two months of the current financial year, export of coffee fell by 6 per cent to 72,050 tonnes from 76,389 tonnes in the April-May period of the 2011-12 fiscal.

The earnings from overseas shipment of the brew in rupee terms rose by 3 per cent to Rs 1,069.94 crore in April-May of 2012-13 as against Rs 1,037.94 crore in the year-ago period.

However, in terms of US dollars, the earnings declined by 10 per cent to $210.59 million from $233.22 million in the comparable period.

In the first eight months of the current coffee year, exports fell by 4 per cent to 2,30,883 tonnes from 2,39,758 tonnes in the 2010-11 coffee year (October-September).

In the January-May period of the current calender year, coffee shipments fell marginally to 1,73,358 tonnes against 1,74,542 tonnes in the year-ago period.

Arabica exports declined to 35,275 tonnes in the first five months of 2012 from 37,043 tonnes in the same period in 2011, while shipments of robusta fell to 96,693 tonnes from 97,589 tonnes during the period under review.