BOGOTA, Colombia –Colombia, the world’s leading producer of mild washed Arabica coffee, produced a total of 1.3 million 60 kilo coffee bags in August 2015. This meant a 10% increase compared to the bags produced during August 2014.
Year to date production (January-August) increased 13% by reaching nearly 9 million bags. Similarly, during the past twelve months (September 2014-August 2015), Colombian coffee production reached 13.2 million bags.
This represented a 9% increase compared to the 12.1 million bags recorded between September 2013 and August 2014.
The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation’s (FNC) coffee crop renovation initiatives have led to the recovery of Colombia’s coffee production. A total of 3.488 million trees have been renovated since 2008 (78% of them with resistant varieties that are better adapted to climate variability) in 657,000 coffee growing hectares.
Similar to crop renovation, productivity per hectare has also increased. In August 2015, it reached 16.2 bags per hectare. According to Roberto Vélez, CEO of the FNC, “The increase in productivity is a key factor in the profitability of Colombian coffee growers. However, we still have a long way to go in this field.”
Exports
Colombian coffee exports have also increased significantly. During August 2015, coffee exports reached 1.1 million 60 kilo bags. This meant a 24% increase compared to the 881,000 bags exported during the same period of the previous year.
Year to date exports increased 15% by reaching a total of 8.2 million bags. Similarly, during the past twelve months (September 2014-August 2015), Colombia exported a total of 12 million 60 kilo bags.
This meant a 13% increase compared to the 10.7 million bags exported between September 2013 and August 2014.
