2merkato

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.

The International Coffee Organization (ICO) said yesterday that coffee output in Ethiopia might drop by 18 percent in the 2011-12 crop year as a result of a smaller crop in the country.

Output in Ethiopia is expected to fall to 14.4 million bags the coming season from 17.5 million bags in the 2010-11 crop year. The ICO attributed the drop in production to poorer performance in the country.

Coffee production in Ethiopia for the last two seasons has exceeded all expectation according to the International Coffee Organization. Coffee output, internationally, exceeded expectations by 1 million bags for 2010-11 to reach 134.2 million bags said the coffee organization.   

The ICO has increased its estimated global output for 2011-12 by 3.8 million bags due to a significant increase in production in Ethiopia expected to be around 6 million bags.