Coffee exports drop to five-year low

The International Coffee Organization (ICO) has revealed in its latest report that total coffee exports sunk to a five-year low for coffee year 2014-15. The ICO has reported that total exports came to 110.7 million 60-kilogram bags; the first year-on-year decreases in export volumes for five years. Neither Arabica nor Robusta were exempt from the downward trajectory, with a 1.9 per cent and 4.9 per cent drop in shipments recorded for the two species. The Colombian Milds group was successful in bucking the trend this coffee year, with the ICO reporting an increase of 11.6 per cent in exports. Brazil recorded its largest ever volume on record, finishing on 36.3 million. The ICO said that this represents a 1.8 per cent increase on coffee year 2013-14. The October report found that Vietnam saw severely restricted exports over the last 12 months, down 19.2 per cent to an estimated 20 million bags. Colombia’s rejuvenation program has helped it once again increase exports, which, while wary of the effect of El Nino this year, the ICO is predicting will continue to boost production. Colombia’s exports totaled 12.3 bags, a 13.3 per cent increase on the prior 12-month period. While not quite reaching the 5.9 million bags the United States Department of Agriculture predicted in June, Honduras did increase its export volume to 5 million bags. The ICO reports that Indonesia’s exports were also up this year, reaching a total of 7.3-million bags for 2013-14. Looking ahead, the ICO has slightly revised its production estimate for 2014-15 to 143.3 million bags, which would represent a 2.3 per cent drop on last year’s total production. Graph credit goes to the International Coffee Organization: www.ico.org