Low Robusta forecasts provide boost for Indian producers

With unseasonable heat and drought impacting crop forecasts in two of the world’s largest Robusta-producing nations pushing up the price of the bean on the international market, lesser-known producers such as India are stepping in to pick up the slack. While Vietnam and Brazil are the world’s biggest Robusta producers – and by a significant margin – some 70 per cent of the nation’s coffee crop is Robusta, with the country’s farmers producing 3.27 million tonnes of coffee this year. The tightening of Robusta supply from the world’s largest producers has pushed Indian coffee exports up by 20 per cent this year, reaching almost 1.5 million tonnes 1 January – 12 May, according to data from the Indian Coffee Board. With the global price of Robusta hitting US$1,678 per tonne last week, Indian producers are cashing in on the increased value of their Robusta crops, in some cases doubling the amount of Robusta they have exported in the first few months of the year.