Ethiopia expects coffee exports for 2014/15 crop to hit a record high because of drought and disease hitting crops in Latin America.
The International Coffee Organization forecast in September that global coffee production will fall short of demand, following an unprecedented drought early this year reducing the 2014/15 crop in Brazil, the world’s biggest coffee producer.
In the first four months of this fiscal year (July to October), Ethiopia, Africa’s largest coffee producer, exported 54,000 tonnes of coffee worth $231.9 million, compared with the $172.5 million earned from 51,000 tonnes over the same period last year.
The Chairperson of the Ethiopian Coffee Exporters’ Association, Hussein Agraw, said he expected the amount of coffee exported to rise to 235,000 tonnes by the end of 2014/2015, generating $862 million in revenue.
Ethiopia exported about 190,000 tonnes in 2013/14, to earn $841 million, he said while exports reached 193,000 tonnes the year earlier. Total coffee production in Ethiopia amounted to 450,000 tonnes during 2013/14 period, according to official figures, and a similar output for 2014/15.
