Coffee exports rise 3% in 2013: Coffee Board .

NEW DELHI:India's coffee exports rose marginally by nearly 3 per cent to 3.14 lakh tonnes in 2013 on the back of sharp jump in re-export of instant coffee, despite sluggish global prices, according to the Coffee Board.

The country had exported 3.05 lakh tonnes of coffee in the previous calender year, it said in its latest report.

Due to re-exports, total coffee exports in value terms also remained higher at Rs 4,728.86 crore in 2013, as against Rs 4,637.87 crore in the previous year.

"Overall exports remained good mainly due to rise in re-export of value-added products especially instant coffee. Otherwise, global prices were weak," a senior Coffee Board official told PTI.

The sluggish international prices prompted Indian traders to focus on re-export of value-added products, the official said, adding the global prices of both arabica and robusta fell by up to 30 per cent during the year, discouraging exports.

Total re-export of instant coffee rose significantly by 56 per cent to 70,833 tonnes in 2013 from 45,457 tonnes in the previous year, according to the Board data.

Due to weak global prices, arabica exports from the country fell by 5 per cent to 55,082 tonnes in the review period from 57,792 tonnes a year ago, while robusta shipments could improve by only 6 per cent to 1,65,087 tonnes in 2013 from 1,55,890 tonnes in the previous year, the data showed.

Much of the coffee was exported to Italy (77,041 tonnes), followed by Germany (30,571 tonnes), Russia (20,703 tonnes) and Belgium (17,431 tonnes), in 2013. Arabica prices fell sharply by 30 per cent to 110 cents per pound, while robusta prices declined by 17 per cent to around 75 cents per pound in 2013, analysts said.

"Robusta prices were also down but the fall was not as sharp as arabica," the official said adding global prices are still ruling down on expectation of surplus production in major coffee-growing countries.

As a result, export realisation remained lower at Rs 1,50,297 per tonne in 2013, as compared to Rs 1,51,938 per tonne in the previous year.

Currently, coffee harvesting is underway in India. Harvesting of arabica coffee is near to completion, while robusta is in full swing and would end by March. Coffee Board has pegged total production at 3,47,000 tonnes for the ongoing 2013-14 season (October-September).

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com