MUMBAI – India's coffee growers, encouraged by global prices surging to a near 14-year high, are queuing to export the beans and look set to boost shipments by about a fourth in the current quarter, industry executives said Wednesday.
Coffee exports from India, Asia's third-largest producer, are likely to rise to 90,000 metric tons during the January-March period from 72,774 tons a year earlier, they said. Already, shipments during January and February have jumped 47% from a year earlier to 53,905 tons, while the export value doubled to $173.1 million, according to the state-run Coffee Board.
"Export volume has been good compared with last year as a lot of people want to take advantage of higher prices," said M.P. Devaiah, general manager of Allanasons Ltd., India's fourth-largest coffee exporter by volume.
Arabica coffee futures for May delivery on the InterContinental Exchange hit a fresh high Tuesday and ended at $2.8720 a pound, the highest level since May 1997. Liffe robusta coffee futures also closed higher after hitting $2,466/ton on the May contract, the highest since August 2008.
Bad weather in Central America and Colombia has kept prices high, with arabica coffee prices rallying more than 46% over the past six months.
Ramesh Rajah, president of Coffee Exporters Association of India, said exports will continue until at least June and maybe extend by a few days, but will likely slow after that.
March and April are the top two months for shipments from India, which exports about two-thirds of its production. Italy, Russia, Germany and Belgium together account for more than 50% of India's coffee shipments.
Mr. Rajah said strong local supplies are also helping Indian traders to boost exports. He added that arrivals are currently at a peak as arabica supplies are continuing while robusta arrivals have also started.
In India, arabica is usually harvested from mid-November and robusta arrivals start in February. Arabica is used mainly to make premium coffee, while robusta is blended with arabica beans for a lower-cost option for brewed or processed instant coffee.
"Despite a harvesting delay of two weeks initially, arabica arrivals have picked up. Robusta supplies have also started, which is definitely going to help the exports for the next few months, said a Coffee Board official, who didn't want to be identified.
(Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704132204576190153249806630.html)
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