Ethiopia will expect a 25 percent climb from its arabica coffee export earnings in the 2014/2015 fiscal year, taking it to about U.S $ 900 Million. This is, according to Bloomberg, because of the higher price forecasted to happen following the drought damaged plants in Brazil.

According to Ethiopian Coffee Exporters’ Association’s General Manager, Alemseged Assefa, when supplies of coffee in the world market are tight, prices for coffee at the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange could average $2 a pound.

He further noted, “Prices are favorable this year because of the Brazilian coffee drought”. “We presume that price will continue because of the drought.”

According to Bloomberg, arabica has surged 71 percent in New York since January after a drought hurt plantings in Brazil, the world’s biggest exporter of the beans, fueling speculation that consumption may outstrip supply.

In the just ended fiscal year Ethiopia earned U.S $ 719 Million from the export of the beans, which is a 3.7 percent decrease when compared to the year before it. The volume of exports also fell by 4.1 percent.

Ethiopia expects a total of 500,000 tons of beans production in the current year, out of which about 50 percent of it will be sold in the global market.

Fekade Mamo, general manager of Mochaland Import and Export, said coffee prices will be in the “stable to high range” of as much as $1.80 a pound this year.

Source: Bloomberg