RI expects a boost in coffee earnings

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia, one of the world's leading coffee producers, expects a 64.17 percent increase in its coffee export revenues to around US$800 million in the new coffee season which begins in November, an executive says.

"Things are looking good this time around for producers," Usman Sudargo, vice chairman of the Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters, told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Usman also said the exporters association and the Ministry of Agriculture will support the retention plan recently announced by Brazil and Columbia which will begin on Jan. 1.

Brazil and Columbia announced their retention plan two weeks ago after the commodity's price continued to fall from $1.80 per pound to $1.50 two weeks ago.

The announcement had propped up coffee prices to about $1.72 per pound yesterday.

Earlier this year, the Association of Coffee Producing Countries (ACPC) announced a retention plan requiring an export cut of 20 percent if prices fell below 60 U.S. cents per pound and 10 percent if prices hovered at between 60.01 and 65 cents. No retention was necessary if prices exceeded 65 cents.

Usman declined to specify what he meant by "support". He said that Indonesia will wait for the next meeting of the ACPC before taking any "concrete action."

"We still don't know where and when the next meeting will be," he said.

Usman also said that Indonesia supports the retention plan because it wants the excessive stocks of consumer countries reduced. (hdj)