2merkato

The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange has lifted the minimum price limit of coffee to allow prices to adjust to the declining coffee prices on the New York Reference market.

As of last week the price of Arabica Coffee has shown the sharpest decline since last October of 2010 on the New York commodity future exchange market.

The price for Arabica registered last week was a 16 month low dropping to 1.8620 a pound.

Beer Export by BGI Ethiopia increased by 30% in the last fiscal year according to the company.

The 30% increase exceeded the 20% average annual growth registered by the company over the last years.

BGI exported 3,152 hectoliters of beer in the 2010-11 fiscal year, as compared to the 2,416 hectoliters it exported in the previous financial year. Exports by BGI in the last fiscal year earned an estimated 300,000 US dollars.

Ethiopia has earned 1.35 billion US dollars from the export of various goods in the first two quarters of the Ethiopian financial year according to the Ministry of Trade.

More than 35 kinds of agricultural and industrial products were exported to and estimated 120 countries across the world during the course of the financial period said Abdurahman.

Exports included coffee, khat, gold, oil seeds, live animals, leather and leather products, flower, garments, fruits and vegetables, meat and spices which make up 1.3 billion US dollars or 97% of the total revenue raised he said.

Ethiopia’s trade deficit remains high in spite of notable increases in exports. The gap in the trade balance is failing to lessen because many raw materials used by significant projects, including infrastructure, are imported according to Abdurrahman Seid, Public Relations Deputy Coordinator at the Ministry of Trade.

Import requirements associated with infrastructural development in particular affect the trade deficit because of the massive infrastructure projects that are currently being implemented in the country he said.