India’s coffee exports are set to rise as much as 10 percent in the year through March 2016 from 286,516 metric tons last year, said Ramesh Rajah, president of the country’s Coffee Exporters Association.
This would mark the biggest increase since 2011-2012, when sales soared 11 percent to 333,181 tons, according to data from the state-run Coffee Board.
Supplies from the South Asian nation may help bridge a shortfall in shipments from Vietnam, where farmers are hoarding the most beans in at least five years on speculation prices will rally further. Robusta accounts for about 70 percent of India’s exports.
“With a larger crop expected next season, the small farmers will keep selling” as they can’t bear the storing and logistic costs, Rajah said by phone from Bengaluru on July 14. “The crop was low in 2014-15 and farmers held back and the prices went up.”
Production in India will rise 8.7 percent to a record 355,600 tons in 2015-16, the board estimates.
Timely monsoon rains have boosted crop prospects, according to Anil Kumar Bhandari, a member of the state-run agency.
“We are heading for a very good crop,” Bhandari said by phone from Bengaluru on July 13. “The coffee-growing belt in Karnataka and Kerala has got adequate rains.”
