CAMEROON – Cameroon exported 35,215 tons of coffee during the 2018-2019 seasons, a 39.1% increase from the volume exported during the previous season.
The Cocoa-Coffee inter-professional Association stated that the exported volume comprised of 7,418 tons of Arabica coffee and 27,797 tons of Robusta coffee.
During the season under review, Belgium was the leading buyer accounting for 29% of Cameroon’s exports of Robusta coffee and 14.2% of Arabica coffee. The total volume represented 25.9% of the exports.
France was the second leading importer, buying 21.3% of robusta coffee and 3.8% of Arabica coffee i.e. 17.6% of the overall volume.
Germany imported 60.36% of Arabica coffee which is 12.7% of the overall volume. Next came Portugal with 10.9% of Robusta coffee, Italy with 9.6% of Robusta coffee and the USA importing 17% Arabica coffee.
The Inter-professional association also pointed out that the country registered a drop in coffee exports at the beginning of 2020, triggered by the cessation of activities in European countries affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite of the decline in coffee trade across the global, reports by Business in Cameroon have indicated that, at the end of March 2020, 104 coffee processing plants were operating in Cameroon.
The National Coffee and Cocoa Board of Cameroon states that the increase in number of plant recorded over the past three years is due to a sharp rise in the number of plants launched in the Eastern region which contributed to the country registering a rise in export volume in the season 2018-2019.
As the world is currently facing the COVID-19 pandemic, reports by International Coffee organization have indicated that global coffee exports amounted to 10.82 million bags in April 2020, compared with 11.17 million in April 2019.
Exports in the first 7 months of coffee year 2019/20 (Oct/19 to Apr/20) have decreased by 3.8% to 72.78 million bags compared to 75.67 million bags in the same period in 2018/19.
In the twelve months ending April 2020, exports of Arabica totalled 81.3 million bags compared to 80.75 million bags last year; whereas Robusta exports amounted to 47.65 million bags compared to 45.63 million bags.
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