India’s coffee exports reached a new peak in value during the calendar year 2023, driven by higher global prices despite a 5.5 per cent decline in volumes due to reduced offtake by key buyers in Europe and Russia.
The exports surged by 4.50 per cent to achieve a record USD 1.16 billion in 2023, compared to the previous year’s USD 1.11 billion. In rupee terms, this represented a growth of 9.81 per cent at Rs 9,578 crore over the previous year’s Rs 8,722 crore.
The per-unit value realised by Indian exporters saw a notable increase of 16.5 per cent due to bullish global prices.
KG Jagadeesha, Secretary and CEO of the Coffee Board, has informed the media that the exports in value terms for the calendar year 2023 were at an all-time high. Factors such as elevated prices, exporter efforts, and promotional activities by the Coffee Board contributed to achieving this significant milestone.
Breaking down the categories, among the green beans, premium arabica parchment shipments showed a growth of 7.6 per cent, reaching 38,045 tonnes in 2023 compared to the previous year’s 35,329 tonnes.
However, arabica cherry shipments declined by 1.2 per cent to 8,772 tonnes (from 8,887 tonnes), and robusta parchment volumes decreased by 2 per cent to 29,128 tonnes (from 29,741 tonnes).
Robusta cherry shipments saw a substantial decline of 17 per cent, falling to 1.57 lakh tonnes (from 1.90 lakh tonnes). Instant coffees increased by 7.28 per cent to 36,999 tonnes (from 34,486 tonnes), while imports for re-exports grew by approximately 7 per cent to 1.05 lakh tonnes (from 98,819 tonnes).
It is worth noting that India imports raw coffees to convert them into instant coffees before re-exporting them.
