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Coffee exporters found in breach of the hoarding directive have been banned by the Ministry of Trade. Exporters found with stored Coffee in excess of the levels established in the directive will be severely punished according to Yacob Yala State Minister of Trade.

The Ministry of Trade has decided to place a ban on an estimated 50-55 exporters for failing to comply with the directive or for forging contractual agreement according to sources. This list includes many significant coffee exporters said the sources.

The export of coffee from Ethiopia has declined by 38% in the first eight months of the financial year, as compared to the same period  last, according to data from players in the sector.

The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange has consequently eliminated the 5% +/- price range for coffee intended to regulate against price fluctuations on the international market last week.

The range will not be applicable on the trading floor of  Exchange until the price of coffee stabilizes on the international market said Dr. Eleni Z. Gebremedhin, Chief Executive of the ECX.

Ethiopian exports from Ethiopia in the just ended financial year are 100,000 tones short of the projected exports according to an unofficial source.

The exports are below projection and lower than what the country exported last year although exports did show signs of increasing in the final two months of the concluded fiscal year noted experts.

The demand for coffee was reduced by the international economic meltdown that has affected major export destinations and the bumper harvest acquired by the world’s largest producer of coffee, Brazil.

The Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority revealed that nearly 300,000 tons of coffee were shipped abroad in the past nine months, generating over USD 1.5 billion in foreign exchange earnings.

Coffee exports from Ethiopia rose by 38 percent in the fiscal year to 7 July 2011 as shipments of the beans jumped, the Ministry of Trade said.

In a statement released yesterday the ministry said that the total amount of coffee exported over the period reached 2.8 billion dollars.

Coffee was Ethiopia's biggest source of revenue raising 841.7 million dollars from 196,118 tonnes of beans shipped.