RI's coffee exports licely to drop by 67 percent
RI's coffee exports licely to drop by 67 percent
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's coffee exports are likely to drop by 67 percent to 14,000 tons during the first three months of this year from 43,500 tons in the same period of last year, an executive said.
The vice chairman of the Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters, Oesman Soedargo, said yesterday that the expected drop is caused by last year's prolonged dry spell.
Official figures show that Indonesia's exports of coffee fell 12.6 percent last year to 301,066 tons from 354,602 tons in 1993.
Oesman noted that this year's coffee harvesting period in the country will be three months late from its usual February-March period. However, he did not specify whether this year's output would be less than last year's 457,300 tons.
He said that coffee production declines will occur in Latin American countries, which have been the home of the world's foremost coffees, and in African countries.
Latin American countries will suffer the steepest decline due to unexpected frosts last June and July in Brazil, the world's largest Arabica coffee producer, and last year's prolonged dry season in Colombia, the second biggest producer.
Oesman said some had predicted that last year's frosts will slash Brazil's output by 720,000 tons this year, or 42 percent of its normal annual output of 1.7 million tons.
"As fears about a lack of future supplies are looming, coffee prices will be strong and steady this year," Oesman told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
The latest Robusta coffee prices are almost twice as high as they were at the start of 1994, but still well below 1994's high of US$4,140 per ton.
On Tuesday, prices for Robusta coffee beans on the London futures market jumped to $3,040 a ton.
Indonesia is a major Robusta coffee exporter, accounting for about 23 percent of the world market for Robusta. Robusta accounts for about 95 percent of its coffee exports.
Worries also follow a move earlier this year by Latin America nations, mainly Brazil and Colombia, to hold back exports to boost prices.
Indonesia has expressed its support of the two countries' move which helped prop up coffee prices to the current level.
Early next month, the Association of Coffee Producing Countries will convene in London to review the coffee retaining scheme, which limits exports to a certain percentage of national output. (rid)