Foreign exchange earned through exports of coffee from India failed to touch Rs 2,000 crore mark in the coffee year ended September 2009 despite higher price realisation for the commodity at the global level. Exports stood at 1.81 lakh tonne, fetching foriegn exchanges of around Rs 1,970 crore, according to provisional figures released by the Coffee Board.
Consumption of coffee across the world increased in the past two years despite the economic slowdown, pushing prices at an alarming rate last year. But India failed to cash in on owing to lower production, said an official of the Coffee Board.
The unit value of Indian coffee at international market increased to Rs 1.09 lakh per tonne in 2008-09 from Rs 1.05 lakh in the previous year.
According to state-owned Coffee Board, India earned foreign exchange of Rs 2,328 crore in the coffee year ended September 2008, up by 23% from Rs 1,892 crore in the previous year. Although, exports in the 2007-08 crop year was almost flat at 2,20,030 tonne compared to previous year’s 2,19,796 tonne, higher price in the global markets helped realisation in the 2007-08 crop year to cross Rs 2,000 crore mark for the first time.
As coffee prices continued to soar, the government anticipated that foreign exchange through coffee exports would surpass Rs 2,500 crore in 2008-09 crop year. However, the target was not achieved, as erratic rains dragged down production.
Coffee Board’s post-blossom estimate for 2008-09 had stood at a whopping 2.93 lakh tonne, but it fell to 2.62 lakh tonne during the post-monsoon estimation.
In fact the area covered under coffee plantation increased to 3, 94,352 hectares in 2008-09, up from 3,88,195 hectares in the previous year, but production was almost flat at 2.62 lakh tonne.
The dip in exports in 2008-09 was mainly due to decline in import by Italy and Russia, the top two coffee importers from India. Exports to Italy declined to 35,104 tonne in 2008-09 from 53,539 tonne while exports to Russia tumbled to 13, 308 tonne from 23, 309 tonne. Exports to Germany, the third top coffee customer of India, also declined to 9,024 tonne from 15,503 tonne while exports to Belgium declined to 7,073 tonne from 11,195 tonne.
However, growers and exporters feel that exports will revive in the current crop year that starts on October 1, 2009, as the production is likely to pick up.
According to post-blossom estimates of the Coffee Board, output in 2009-10 will be around 3,06,300 tonne, of which arabica output will be at 101,525 tonne and robusta at 2,04,775 tonne.
