By: Dr. Ripudaman Singh (Special Correspondent ICN Group) & Hemant Kumar ( Agriculture Correspondent ICN Group)
NEW DELHI: India emergence as the export hub of instant coffee is pushing up overall coffee exports from the country. Coffee exports rose to 1,77,805 tonnes during April-August 2017 from 1,62,641 tonnes in the same period last year. In terms f value, th exports rose to $363.1 million.
The exports are believed to be driven by value-added coffee (instant coffee) which contributed nearly 25.5 percent to total export from April to August, 2017 and this was increasing steadily year-on-year. Coffee that are being exported include green coffee and specialty green coffee and value-added coffee.
Robusta coffee, imported from countries like Vienam, is exported after adding value to it here. In 2016-17, coffee imports into the country stood at 78,042 tonnes compared to 65,618 tonnes the previous year. In terms of value, the imports jumped to rs 927 crore ($ 142 million) from Rs 802 crore ($122 million).
Re-exports stood at 79,254 tonnes compared to 67,283 tonnes. Some of the major export units which focus on value-added products are CCL Products, Tata, Narasus Coffee, NED Commodities, among others.
Coffee production in India is expected to cross 3.3 lakhs tones in 2017-18 as new areas have come under cultivation amid normal monsoon. If the climate and prices are favorable, production can go up to 3.7 lakhs tones in the next two-three years, said a Coffee Board representative.
The post-monsoon crop forecast for 2016-17 was placed at 316,700 tonnes, which showed a marginal reduction of 3,300 tonnes (-1.03%) over the post-blossom estimate of 2016-17 of 320,000 tonnes.
