Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Apr 04, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Apr 04, 2006 |
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Exports & Imports Agri-Biz & Commodities - Coffee Coffee exports down despite realisations rising Vishwanath Kulkarni
Trade scenario Realisation per tonne up 29 per cent Final shipment figures may top 2 lakh tonnes Imports for re-exports rise 77 per cent
Bangalore , April 3 Despite a 77 per cent surge in coffee imports for value-added re-exports by Indian exporters, shipments for the financial year 2005-06 were down by 16 per cent, whereas in dollar terms they were up by six per cent. Export value of coffee till March 31, was $312.62 million compared with $294.64 million last year, as per the provisional estimates of Coffee Board. In rupee terms, exports were up by 10 per cent at Rs 1,352.93 crore as compared to Rs 1,224.67 crore.
Improved realisation
The improved realisation was entirely due to higher prices despite lower export volumes. Realisations per tonne were up by 29 per cent at Rs 74,539 as compared to Rs 57,831 in the corresponding last year. "The exports are in line with our estimates," said Mr G.V. Krishna Rau, Chairman, Coffee Board. "We expect the actual shortfall in exports to be around six to seven per cent over that of the previous year as the confirmation of shipments for the past few weeks are yet to come in," Mr Rau said, adding the Board expects the final shipment figures to be between 1.98 lakh tonnes to 2 lakh tonnes. India had exported 2.117 lakh tonnes of coffee in 2004-05, whereas the Coffee Board has issued permits to export about 2.09 lakh tonnes for 2005-06, of which the confirmed exports stand at 1.81 lakh tonnes. Coffee exporters had earlier expressed their apprehensions over exports hitting an all-time low for the decade for 2005-06 as volatile prices had forced the growers to hold back their stocks resulting in non-availability of adequate quantity for exports. However, the Coffee Board had maintained then that the exports would pick up in early 2006. "The exports are good in a sense that there were apprehensions raised by various industry stakeholders especially relating the non-availability of coffee for exports," Mr Rau said, adding the latest export figures vindicate the Coffee Board's stance.
Import for re-export up
Coffee imports for value-added re-exports hsurged by almost 77 per cent during the financial year 2005-06. Coffee imports for re-exports stood at around 37,214 tonnes in 2005-06 compared with 21,030 tonnes in the previous year. Indian exporters, mainly those who manufacture soluble instant coffees, find it cheaper to import from Vietnam as the cost of landed price of robustas is almost half compared to the local varieties. Major importers of cheaper robustas for value-added re-exports include Nestle, Tata Coffee and Continental Coffee among others. "The imported coffee is mainly used to make soluble instant coffees," said Mr Rau. The increased imports do not really have any impact on the prices of coffee in domestic market as it is mainly used for value-added exports. "Despite all this our robustas continue to enjoy the highest premium in the world," he added.
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