Coffee exports rise 46% in 2009-10 so far.

Mumbai: Coffee exports from India, the world’s fifth biggest producer, jumped about 46% to 224,075 tonnes between 1 October 2009 and 2 August over the same period a year ago, the state-run Coffee Board said on on Tuesday.

“There is very good demand from our traditional buyers this year,” said HN Devaraj, a member of the Coffee Board and a large trader from Diwan Gudda Estate in Hassan district of Karnataka, the country’s biggest coffee producing state.

“The only problem is prices for Indian coffee are slightly lower this year.”

Coffee price per tonne dropped to Rs102,048 in August this year compared with Rs109,723 a year ago.

India sold Rs2,287 crore worth of coffee during the period, up from Rs1,684 crore a year ago, data showed.

The country produces only 4.5% of the world’s coffee, but exports 70-80% of its output. Italy, Russia and Germany are the top three buyers of Indian coffee.

Arabica is mainly used in premium coffees, while robusta, which makes up 70% of the country’s output, is typically blended with arabica beans for a lower-cost option for brewed coffee, or processed into instant coffee.

India’s 2010-11 coffee output may rise 6.35% to 308,000 tonnes, the board said in its post-blossom estimate, its first for the year. The coffee year runs from October to September.

Devaraj said good monsoon may help in higher output, though a sharp upward revision is not expected.

Source : livemint.com