Coffee exports in April up 11 per cent at Rs 535 cr

NEW DELHI: India's coffee exports rose by over 11 per cent in value terms at Rs 535.83 crore in April this year on better realisation following firm global prices, according to the Coffee Board.

Coffee shipments from India, the world's fifth biggest exporter, stood at Rs 480.77 crore in the corresponding period of last year.

However in volume terms, coffee shipments fell by over 4 per cent at 31,836 tonnes in April this year from 33,211 tonnes of shipments in the year-ago period.

"The export realisation remained as high as Rs 1,68,362 per tonne in April, 2014, against Rs 1,44,762 per tonne in the year ago because of better global prices," a senior Board official said.

But the volume of coffee exports from India remained lower last month as domestic traders held back stocks anticipating recovery in global prices, which have firmed since February on likely drop in production in the world's largest coffee producer Brazil, the official added.

According to the Board, the global coffee prices have already risen by more than 80 per cent this year owing to concerns over drought conditions in Brazil and an outbreak of coffee leaf rust plant disease in Central America.

During last week of April, arabica-quality coffee prices at New York had touched 219 US cents on April 24, the highest since February 2012. Robusta futures price for July had risen to USD 2,156 a tonne from USD 2,086 a tonne.

The Board official said that harvesting of coffee in the country has got over now. Overall domestic production is expected to be in line with the Board's estimate of 3,11,500 tonnes for 2013-14 crop year (October-September), down by 2.1 per cent from 3,18,200 tonnes produced in 2012-13.

India exports coffee largely to Italy, Germany, Belgium, Jordan, Turkey and Russia, among others.