Uganda to export 0.3m bags of coffee

Feb 12, 2009

UGANDA expects to export some 300,000 60-kg bags of coffee this month, down slightly from the same period last year, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) said.

UGANDA expects to export some 300,000 60-kg bags of coffee this month, down slightly from the same period last year, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) said.

“February exports, based on the high level of pipeline stocks, especially at the trader/processor level, are projected at around 300,000 bags, availability of containers permitting,” the body said in a report issued late on Wednesday.

Uganda sent out 318,346 bags in February last year worth $37.02m, it said.

Coffee volumes fell to 332,211 bags in January from 360,875 bags last year.

Robusta volumes saw a decrease of 16.6% to 272,395 bags from 326,466 bags in the previous period, it said.

“The drop in volume is largely due to logistics problems, limited supply of containers, attributed to the bad weather in Europe,” the report said.
Uganda’s coffee earnings dropped 22.7% to $30.73m in January from $39.73m last year, the body said.
It said coffee harvesting in the central and eastern regions had come to an end with most of the stocks sent to traders, with some traders holding onto bags in hopes of getting better prices.

Uganda has become a key player in robusta production since a crisis in former leading African producer Ivory Coast cut output. Kampala is Africa’s second biggest coffee grower after Ethiopia, which largely produces arabica.

Europe is the main destination for the east African nation’s beans.
Coffee exports from Uganda, Africa’s biggest producer of the robusta variety, climbed 9.7% in December, according to the UCDA.
Shipments increased to 298,978 60-kilogram (132-pound) bags, from 272,519 bags in the same period a year earlier, the agency’s report added.

Reuters

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