Coffee exports to fall by up to 18K tons in 2006-07 season

clipped from www.hindu.com New Delhi, Sept. 4 (PTI): India's coffee exports is likely to fall by up to 18,000 tons in the current season ending September 2007 as compared to last year, owing to lower output coupled with appreciating rupee, an industry body said. "We do not expect much shipment in the month of September. The final export figure for the current coffee year would be 16,000-18,000 tons less than last year," Coffee Exporters' Association Chairman Ramesh Rajah told PTI. India exported 2.36 lakh tons of coffee during 2005-06 season. Coffee year runs from October to September. According to the Coffee Board's data, the exports during October-August of 2006-07 season is estimated at nearly 2.11 lakh tons (worth Rs 1,776 crores), down 6 per cent from the previous year's 2.24 lakh tons (Rs 1,704 crores). Rajah attributed the fall in exports volume to lower production and appreciating rupee against dollar.

Coffee exports dip by 7%

clipped from www.business-standard.com Newswire18 / Mumbai September 4, 2007 Coffee exports during January 1-August 30 were down 7.47 per cent at 159,248 tonnes, compared with 172,120 tonnes in the same period a year ago, according to data from the Coffee Board of India.   Weak overseas demand for arabica is the main reason for the decline in total coffee exports, according to Ramesh Rajah, president, All India Coffee Exporters’ Association.   During the period, export of the arabica variety fell 36 per cent to 33,071 tonnes, while that of robusta declined 5 per cent to 83,804 tonnes.   Demand for Indian coffee was weak in the international markets mainly because Indian sellers were quoting rates higher than their global counterparts.  “It is very unlikely that exports would pick up in the rest of 2007. Export demand may emerge in the first quarter of 2008 when the new Indian crop arrives,” Rajah said.

Robusta Coffee Gains as Hurricane Felix May Cut Coffee Supplies

clipped from www.bloomberg.com By Marianne Stigset Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Robusta coffee climbed to a three- week high in London on speculation hurricane damage to crops in Honduras, Central America's second-biggest exporter of coffee beans, and Nicaragua may widen next year's forecast deficit. Hurricane Felix hit Nicaragua this morning as a Category 5 storm with winds close to 160 miles an hour, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. It's now a Category 3. The International Coffee Organization was already forecasting a supply deficit of 8 million bags next season. ``It's too early to say what the impact will be on the harvest, but as we are expecting a deficit on the coffee market, this may push up prices,'' Helmut Ahlfeld, managing director of F.O. Licht in Ratzeburg, Germany, said by phone.

India's Coffee Production May Fall, Adding to Global Shortage

clipped from www.bloomberg.com By Thomas Kutty Abraham Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Coffee output in India, Asia's third-biggest exporter of the commodity, may fall because of damage from excessive rainfall ahead of the harvest, likely worsening a global shortage forecast next year. Production in the year starting Oct. 1 may be at least 15 percent below the 291,000 metric tons forecast by the state-run Coffee Board in July, said N. Bose Mandanna, a grower and former vice chairman of the board. Reduced output in India may add to the global shortage of the robusta bean, supporting prices that have risen 14 percent in the past year. The International Coffee Organization expects a coffee deficit of 8 million bags next season. A bag weighs 132 pounds, or 60 kilograms. ``I expect robusta output to be at least 20 percent lower as large areas were damaged because of the rains,'' Mandanna said in a telephone interview from Madikeri in southern India. Heavy rain has caused fruits and leaves to drop, he said.

More bad news from corporate coffee

clipped from www.coffeehabitat.com Kraft Foods recently announced that beginning this fall, all of its Maxwell House brands of coffee (except instant and Master Blend) will be 100% arabica beans rather than a blend of arabica and robusta. Robusta is the lower quality coffee species often used in cheaper coffees and blends. Robusta is able to grow at lower elevations and hotter temperatures than arabica, and is typically grown in sun. The biggest source of robusta is Asia, mostly Vietnam. Typically, getting any of the big corporate coffee roasters to admit they use robusta and/or how much or where it comes from is like pulling teeth. In a response to Kraft's move, Proctor & Gamble offered that it will continue to use robusta in its Folger's brand and Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA will keep on using robusta in Chock Full o' Nuts. Now we know.

This is a story about gourmet coffee and genocide. It takes place in Rwanda ...

clipped from amazingcoffee.blogspot.com Rwanda is emerging from the horrific shadow of civil war helped by burgeoning Western markets for high-quality coffee. But if Fairtrade is going to lift more blighted communities out of poverty, more of us need to wake up and drink their brands, argues Alex Renton Sunday February 25, 2007 Observer Food Monthly This story takes place in Rwanda, where in 1994 neighbour turned on neighbour and within three months nearly a million people were dead. Today, Rwanda remains Africa's most densely populated country, its people chiefly poor farmers rarely growing more than they need to feed and clothe themselves: 60 per cent of the population live on less than 55p a day. It seemed a good place to ask whether paying a bit extra in a Western supermarket for your coffee can make a real difference to lives like these. Take Claire Kampeta, a demure 30-year-old, the chief taster of the Abahuzamugambi Bakawa coffee co-operative.