Uganda’s monthly coffee shipments on steady rise
Coffee, Uganda’s top export earner has registered a slight increase in the volume of exports despite a global price drop. File Photo.
What you need to know:
UCDA predicts that the exports for the month ending January will be 230,000 bags
Uganda’s coffee monthly exports have shown some progress, signalling a projected improvement in the country’s revenue collections.
The commodity which is ranked as Uganda’s top export earner posted good figures despite the global price drop.
Latest figures from Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) show that in the month ending December, 240,403 bags worth $30.13 million were exported.
UCDA report said: “This was above the country’s exports in the first two months into the coffee calendar when 223,401 worth ($28.8 million) bags and 178,874 ($ 23.68 million) bags exported in November and October respectively.”
However, UCDA adds that cumulative coffee exports for October- December 2012 totaled 641,828 bags, less than the 684,243 bags exported around the same period last year.
Looking at the 12 months (January 2012 to December 2012) a total 2.65 million bags worth $379 million were exported.
“About 76.32 per cent of the total volume was exported by 10 exporters out of the 28 exporters that performed in the month,” UCDA noted.
Type
Looking at the coffee type-in December, out of the 240,403 bags the country exported, 178,059 bags ($20.67 million) were Robusta and 62,344 bags ($9.46 million) were Arabica.
Experts attribute the comparative sharp drop in value for Arabica to the drop in global Arabica prices resulting into a corresponding drop in export prices.
