Coffee exports set to drop, courtesy unseasonal rain

Speciality and value added coffee exports from India are likely to fall this crop year (2007-08) owing to unseasonal rains which lashed coffee growing districts of Karnataka twice - once in February and the second time early this March.

Robusta coffee harvest and the drying process have taken a hit because of the rain. Cloudy conditions subsequently have affected processing of robusta coffee.

After harvest, robusta coffee beans are washed and then pulped to get robusta parchment. The parchment is then graded and processed to be exported as speciality and value added coffee.

Robusta coffee is generally harvested between January-end and February where as arabica coffee is harvested during December-end and January.

"This year, since it rained in February and March, robusta coffee berries fell to the ground and are now being processed as cherry," said Ashok Kurian, president, Speciality Coffee Association of India (Scai).

Quality of robusta coffee this year may not meet the expected standards of speciality coffees. This may result in drop in speciality coffee production.

Speciality and value added coffee from India are mainly exported to a few European countries and the US.

During the first-six months of the coffee crop year 2007-08 (October 2007 to March 2008), exports of speciality and value added coffees stood at 31,933 tonnes valued at Rs 322.09 crore.

According to Coffee Board data, as on March 27, exports of Mysore nuggets-EB stood at 289 tonnes (valued at Rs 3.67 crore), Monsooned Malabar AA - 2,822 tonnes (Rs 32.73 crore), Monsooned Basanally - 509 tonnes (Rs 5.08 crore ), Robusta Kaapi Royale - 910 tonnes (Rs 9.36 crore), Monsooned Robusta AA - 671 tonnes (Rs 5.71 crore), instant coffee - 26,603 tonnes (Rs 263.93 crore), roast and ground coffee - 108 tonnes (Rs 1.14 crore), roast coffee seeds - 18 tonnes (Rs 0.44 crore).