India's coffee exports dip 14.28 pc in Oct-July

NEW DELHI: India's coffee exports have declined 14.28 per cent to 2.28 million bags in the first 10 months of the 2008-09 coffee year till July, even as the global shipments rose marginally in the same period, the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) said.

India had shipped about 2.66 million bags in the same period last year, it said. One bag contains 60 kg of coffee.

The coffee year runs from October to September. Exports have not only fallen in India but also in Colombia and Guatemala where shipments were down by 22.56 per cent and 6.36 per cent, respectively, between October and July, according to the data released by the ICO.

"India has not been able to sell coffee bean in the international market due to high prices, which are quoting higher by 15-30 per cent across varieties than that of some other exporting nations," a Bangalore-based coffee exporter said.

A poor demand in consuming countries following the global slowdown is also affecting the country's exports, he said.

However, the world's coffee exports have improved slightly by 2.56 per cent to 82.30 million bags in the first ten months of the current coffee year, against 80.24 million bags in the year-ago period, according to the ICO.

The rise in global coffee trade is mainly due to increased shipments from the world's top exporters -- Brazil, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Brazil, the world's largest exporter, sold about 26.32 million bags of bean during October-July, this year, up 15.59 per cent from the same period previous year, the ICO data said.

Vietnam exported 15.71 million bags compared with 14 million bags, while Indonesia shipped 5.11 million bags against 4.09 million bags in the review period, it added.