Coffee export value up 20%

THE coffee export value for December 2005 gained by 20% to $14.8m (about sh26.9b) compared with $12.3m (sh22.6b) in 2004, despite a decline in volume.

A market report from the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) attributed the gain in value to a decline in supply by many exporting countries.

“180,344 60-kilo bags of coffee worth $14.8m were exported during the year. While the volume was at the same level as the previous month, there was a 24% drop compared with the same month last year. This could be attributed to a small crop envisaged in 2005/06 due to unfavourable weather during the bean formation stage,” the report said.

Meanwhile, the quantity of coffee exported in the last three months of 2005 was 484,541 bags, down from 606,220 bags exported during a similar period the previous year.

Robusta coffee accounted for 73% of the exports, fetching $9.4m while Arabica’s share was 27% and it fetched $5.5m.

On the local market, the farm gate price for kiboko was sh1,000 per kilogramme, while Arabica’s parchment price in the Mountain Elgon area was sh2,300.
The European Union accounted for 70.6% of the exports, while exports to African countries stood at 22.6%.
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