Ugandan Coffee Shipments Fall 13% as Stocks Decline, Government Board Says

Coffee exports from Uganda, Africa’s biggest producer of the robusta variety of the crop, fell 13 percent in December amid reduced stocks, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority said.

Shipments declined to 237,747 60-kilogram (132-pound) bags from 272,755 bags a year earlier, the Kampala-based board said in an e-mailed statement today. Exports during the month were 11 percent lower than the previous month and 17 percent below an initial forecast of 285,000 bags, according to the authority.

The export figures do not include shipments of some roasted beans and ground coffee, the authority said. Details will be released at a later date, it said, without commenting further.

Output in Uganda slumped from more than 4 million bags in 1996-97 after coffee wilt disease destroyed the crop, according to the authority. New planting and improving farm management may help the country boost production to 4.5 million bags by 2015, the authority has said.

Uganda is Africa’s second-largest coffee producer, after Ethiopia. Robusta accounts for about 85 percent of the East African country’s annual output.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-11/ugandan-coffee-shipments-fall-13-as-stocks-decline-update1-.html)