Colombia’s January production hits 1.1 million bags

Colombia’s coffee production for January has hit 1.1 million bags, an increase of 8% on the same period last year, according to a report from the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC). This is the highest production level for January since coffee year 2004-05. This has been achieved as a result of the renovation of coffee plantations undertaken by the FNC over the past five years, which has led to more productive crops that are better adapted to face challenges of climate variability and pests. According to the figures from the FNC, average productivity of Colombian coffee growing surpassed 15.4 bags of green coffee per hectare, the second highest in the last 14 years. The FNC has also reported that the value of the Colombian coffee harvest, grew 91 per cent in January 2015 to US$ 218.5 million, up from the US$114.7 million received a year earlier. This growth is attributed to the facts of the 79 per cent increase in the domestic price to the farmer, which on average increased from US$179.7 per 125-kg load of dry parchment coffee in January 2014 to US$321.5 in 2015.