#export commodity

[coffeeobserver-blog]

Kenya's benchmark coffee price climbed 2.5 percent at an auction today as bean supplies declined, according to the Nairobi Coffee Exchange.

The benchmark AA grade sold for an average of $490.56 per 50-kilogram (110-pounds) bag, up from $478.75 a week earlier, as supplies dropped 17 percent to 673 bags, the exchange said in an e-mailed report today. The average price for all the coffee sold fell 4.2 percent to $321.57 a bag, it said.

“The quality of the coffee was slightly lower than what was offered in the last two weeks,” David Muriithi, the exchange’s acting chief executive officer, said by phone from the capital, Nairobi.

Total coffee supplies at the auction fell 6.6 percent to 17,949 bags, according to the statement.

[coffeeobserver-blog]

KAMPALA, UGANDA - The demand for coffee and coffee products worldwide is expected to reach 136 million tons this year from the 134 million it was in 2010, sector analysts have predicted. This will show an increase of over 2 million tons over 2010, an increase of 2.1%. According to a source in Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), the increased demand for coffee in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Costa Rica is the main driver for the shooting up coffee demand.

In Uganda, Coffee production capacity is about 3 million bags per year. However, Uganda produced 2.7 million bags of coffee last year, indicating a drop in production. Market analysts predict this year's production will realize an increment of 100,000 bags to 2.8 million bags.

[coffeeobserver-blog]

Global coffee exports rose by nearly 16% to 80.7 million bags of 60 kg each during the October 2010-June 2011, period, mainly on the back of a rise in shipments from Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia and India.

Global coffee exports stood at 69.7 million bags in the corresponding nine months of the 2009-10 coffee year, which runs from October to September.

"This level of exports during the first nine months of coffee year 2010-11 is the highest ever recorded," the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) said in its monthly report.

[coffeeobserver-blog]

Jamaica's coffee regulator will within weeks begin removing inferior grade coffee that are falsely marketed as 100 per cent Blue Mountain Coffee from local grocery shelves.

It will also be on the lookout for brands that are not licensed by the Coffee Industry Board (CIB).

The move comes in the midst of a declining coffee market where farmers last year earned less - J$117,221 per tonne of Blue Mountain berries, a decline below 2006 levels; and J$67,975 for non-Blue Mountain, the same price fetched in 2008 - and export earnings tanked by 46 per cent, from US$35.7 million to US$19.2 million.

[coffeeobserver-blog]

KAMPALA, Uganda, Aug 08, 2011 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) -- Uganda's coffee exports in August are projected to increase by at least 1.2% on year due to higher yields from the second main harvest currently underway in the West and Southern coffee regions, the state-run Uganda Coffee Development Authority said Monday.

UCDA forecast exports to hit 220,000 60-kilogram bags, up from 217,284 bags in August last season. "Farmers are expected to release more stocks to benefit from the remunerative prices," UCDA said.

[coffeeobserver-blog]

MUMBAI: Coffee prices in India rose at last week's auction on demand from domestic traders though export enquiries were limited, auctioneer said.

Enquiry from domestic traders were better than the previous sale date, said auctioneer J. Thomas & Company Pvt Ltd in a statement released on Friday.

"Only robusta parchment premium grades on offer received enquiry from a leading exporter," the statement said.

[coffeeobserver-blog]

Honduran coffee officials said Friday they have raised their production estimate for the current season to a record 4.29 million 60-kilogram bags, making Honduras the world's second-largest producer of washed arabica beans after Colombia for the first time.

Part of Honduras' gains come from a weaker crop in Mexico, which had held the No. 2 spot. A sharp drop in smuggling Honduran beans to Guatemala also helped boost the estimate from the previous 3.8 million bags.

[coffeeobserver-blog]

Costa Rica's coffee production is expected to rise slightly during the upcoming 2011-2012 season as farmers use profits from this season's high prices to increase their productivity, an official with the Costa Rican Coffee Institute, or Icafe, said Friday.

Output is expected to rise roughly 3% to 1.55 million 60-kilogram bags, said Edgar Rojas, Icafe's executive subdirector.

"Prices have been good, so there's been improved attention to the crop in terms of fertilization, soil management and the prevention and control of plagues," he said.