Asia poised for bigger coffee output<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): Asia's share of global coffee supplies should
\nincrease substantially following upbeat production forecasts
\nyesterday by leading producers Indonesia and Vietnam at a
\nregional coffee conference here, officials said.<\/p>\n
Asian producers, who control 17 percent of world coffee
\nsupplies, already account for about 45 percent of robusta coffee
\noutput and more than five percent of arabica coffee production,
\nthey said.<\/p>\n
\"Asia's market share of global production is expected to reach
\n20 percent by the end of the century,\" Paul Moeller, president of
\nVolcafe Ltd., a Swiss coffee importer, told the first Asian
\ninternational coffee conference.<\/p>\n
Moeller told about 200 officials attending the conference that
\nAsia's production share for the robusta type of coffee could
\nreach 60 percent by 2000 from 50 percent currently.<\/p>\n
Africa's robusta coffee production has declined from about
\n740,000 tons in 1988 to a low of 480,000 tons in 1993, while
\nAsia's share for such coffee increased from 684,000 tons in 1988
\nto 780,000 tons in 1993, officials said.<\/p>\n
Brazil, the world's largest arabica coffee producer, was hit
\nby unexpected frosts damaging much of its coffee crop. Lack of
\nrain and excessive dryness on already frost damaged trees have
\nhurt the production further, they said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia<\/p>\n
Indonesia, Asia's number one coffee producer, was tipped to
\nincrease production by 2.76 percent per annum from 457,300 tons
\nin 1994 to 519,200 tons in 1998, said Paian Nainggolan, a senior
\nIndonesian government official.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is the third largest producer and exporter of coffee
\nafter Brazil and Colombia. It is also the world's largest
\nproducer and exporter of robusta coffee.<\/p>\n
Paian, who is head of research and development in Indonesia's
\nTrade Ministry, said Indonesia's areas for coffee plantation were
\nprojected to grow by 2.53 percent per year from some 1.16 million
\nhectares (2.86 million acres) in 1994 to 1.28 million hectares in
\n1998.<\/p>\n
Vietnam, now with the world's highest average yield coffee per
\nhectare, was expected to increase annual production from 175,000
\ntons currently to 200,000 tons, officials said. Some 140,000
\nhectares are planted with coffee in Vietnam at present.<\/p>\n
\"The target of 200,000 hectares of coffee with more than
\n200,000 tons of coffee beans (in exports) will be reached by the
\nbeginning of the next century,\" Ngo The Dan, Vietnam's deputy
\nagriculture and food industry minister, told the conference.<\/p>\n
Vietnam was also planning to expand Arabica coffee planting in
\nits northern mountainous areas where soil and climatic conditions
\nwere suitable for such cultivation, he said.<\/p>\n
Officials said that, on average, coffee suppliers in the Asian
\nregion produce both arabica and robusta coffee at a cost of about
\nfive percent below the averages in other regions.<\/p>\n
The three-day conference is being held ahead of Singapore's
\nlaunching of the Robusta Standard Grade futures contract in mid-
\nFebruary to serve Asia's growing market for the commodity and
\nallow traders to hedge prices within the region's time zones.<\/p>\n
At present, international futures trading in coffee, the
\nsecond biggest financially traded commodity after oil, is offered
\nonly on the London and New York commodity exchanges.<\/p>\n
Foreign coffee traders said introduction of the contract in
\nSingapore was appropriate in view of Asia's growing robusta
\nproduction potential.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asia-poised-for-bigger-coffee-output-1447893297",
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