Uganda's 2012-13 Coffee Exports Soar on Favorable Weather

DOW JONES  -  Nicholas Bariyo

  

KAMPALA - Uganda's coffee exports in the 2012-13 season jumped 32% to

a more than 10-year high, after favorable weather conditions boosted crop

yields, the state-run Uganda Coffee Development Authority said Wednesday.

  Coffee exports during the season rose to 3.6 million 60-kilogram bags, up

from 2.73 million bags in the previous season, following a bumper harvest in

the central, western and southern coffee regions.

  Uganda's coffee season runs from October to September the following year.

  The increase will be welcomed by the East African nation, which has been

making an effort to restore coffee output to more than 4 million bags in the

next couple of years.

  "The weather was generally favorable throughout the season, more young trees

are coming into the production phase," a UCDA trade official said.

  Uganda surpassed its coffee export forecast for the season of 3.2 million

bags in just 11 months as farmers released more stocks onto the market

following the bumper harvest.

  During September, Uganda shipped 224,301 bags of coffee, up from 176,301 bags

exported in the same month last season.

  The coffee body also attributed the increased yields to a coffee growing

campaign launched a few years ago to replace ageing and less productive coffee

trees.

  Uganda is Africa's largest robusta coffee grower and second-largest coffee

producer after Ethiopia. Coffee is Uganda's leading foreign revenue earner

after tourism.

  But the UCDA also said Uganda's increased production comes as global coffee

production is also on the rise, suppressing local prices.

  Global coffee output is projected to rise 7.6% during the 2012-13 season to

144.4 million bags, according to the International Coffee Organization.