Coffee exports are expected to increase 15-20% year on year in the current fiscal, if the trend in the last three quarters is anything to go by.

Till January 24, India's coffee exporters jumped 19% to 1,84,126 tonnes from 1,54,11 0 tonnes year ago, with a rise in international prices spurring overseas sales.

The unit value of Indian coffee in international market surged 7% to Rs 78,342 per tonne a year ago, pushing up overall export earnings 28% to Rs 1,442 crore from Rs 1,128 crore a year ago.

In 2005-06, India shipped an estimated 2,06,373 lakh tones. However, so far in the current fiscal, . the Coffee Board has already issued permits to ship 2,00,905 tonnes.

In addition to this, the industry sources forecast that the board would issue permits for at least 40,000 tonnes in the next two months, totaling around 2,40,000 tonnes at the end of this fiscal.

Talking to FE, All India Coffee Exporters Association (AICEA) president Ramesh Raja said that the prices of Arabica are expected to stay up beat following an anticipated drop in coffee output in Brazil, the world's top coffee producing country that predominately produces the Arabica variety coffee beans. On the other hand, the AICEA forecasts that the prices of Robusta bean would decline marginally on the back of expected bumper output in Vietnam, a primarily Robusta producer.

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