ROME – Having secured a record revenue of USD 882 million last Ethiopian fiscal year, revenue generated from the export of coffee during the first six months of the current fiscal year has regressed to only USD 382 million, USD 54 million shy of the target set – USD 436 million.
According to a report from the Ethiopian Coffee, Tea and Spices Marketing and Development Authority, the six-month export performance of the sector has shown a downward trend, in parallel to the sluggish build up of commodity prices on the world market.
The exported volume of coffee in the past six months (From July to December, 2017), however, showed an increase, and stood at 107,302 tons.
The authority’s target for the stated period was to export 102,000 tons of both washed and unwashed coffee beans. However, revenue earned from the large volume of exported coffee fell short of the projected sum.
Thirty percent increase expected
For the current FY, coffee alone is expected to generate USD 1.15 billion, a 30 percent increase on last year’s USD 882 million. The expected volume to be exported this year is set at 270,388 tons, up by 20 percent from that of last year.
While coffee fared thus, USD six million was raised from the export of 4,219 tons of spices. The performance here also shows greater value and a 1,015-ton increase in volume from last year’s similar period. In addition, USD two million has been earned from the export of 1,077 tons of tea.
