April-Aug coffee exports up 5.85% at $520 million on higher prices

India’s coffee exports have registered a 5.85 per cent growth during April-August of the current financial year at $520.45 million over $491.65 million in the same period a year ago on higher prices.

However, the volumes were down 5.71 per cent at 1.65 lakh tonnes against 1.75 lakh tonnes a year ago. In rupee terms, exports were up 11.62 per cent at ₹4,282 crore over ₹3,836 crore a year ago. The per unit value realised by the Indian exporters was higher at ₹2.58 lakh per tonne during the April-August period compared with ₹2.18 lakh per tonne in the year-ago period, as per Coffee Board’s latest data.

In the first eight months of the calendar year 2023, coffee exports in volume were down at at 2.74 lakh tonnes compared to last year’s 2.86 lakh tonnes. In value terms, the shipments were up 4.25 per cent at $831.43 million compared with $797.50 million a year ago. In rupee value, shipments have witnessed a higher growth at ₹6,843 crore (₹6,136 crore in the year-ago period).

India exports two-thirds of the coffee produced in the country. During the January-August period, the shipments of India-grown coffees were down marginally at 2.06 lakh tonnes (2.23 lakh tonnes), mainly on account of a dip in robusta exports. However, imports for re-exports were up at 68,257 tonnes (63,286 tonnes). India imports coffees mainly the robusta variety from countries such as Vietnam to re-export them as value-added coffees.

Shipments of the arabica parchment variety during January-August were up at 30,458 tonnes (28,079 tonnes), while the arabica cherry were almost flat at 6,323 tonnes (6381 tonnes). Robusta parchment shipments were down at 22,492 tonnes (24,217 tonnes), while the robusta cherry exports were down 1.19 lakh tonnes (1.41 lakh tonnes). Italy continues to be the largest buyer of Indian coffees at 41,180 tonnes, followed by Germany at 27,380 tonnes and Russian Federation at 20,553 tonnes.