ETHIOPIA – Kerchanshe Trading, one of Ethiopia’s largest producers and exporters of coffee is establishing two export coffee preparation facilities at Jimma and Guji Zone.

According to reports by Addis Fortune, the facilities will be the first outside Addis Ababa which has 105 and Harar which has 25.

The new facilities are an addition to Kerchanshe’s three plants in the country’s capital, with two having a processing capacity of 30,000 tonnes annually and the third one expected to commence operations soon.

“The facility in Jimma will be able to serve all the company’s western sources of coffee. Coffee sourced from the south and southwestern parts will be processed at Bule Hora in Guji,” said Asnake Kassam, quality control & certification director at the company.

Kerchanshe, which specialises in coffee sourced from Yirgacheffe, Lekempti, Gimbi, Jimma and Sidamo, has finalised the civil construction of both sites.

Ethiopia is projected to produce 450,000 tonnes of coffee in the marketing year 2020/21

USDA

A new milling machine is being installed at the facility in Guji, from where the company plans to export coffee through the Port of Mombasa while the milling machine for the site at Jimma is in transit.

Coffee contains up to 30pc waste before it gets to its final stage and all this adds on to the extra cost in logistics thus the need of establishing preparation facilities.

Ethiopia being one of the largest coffee producing countries in the region is expected to produce 7.5 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee i.e. 450,000 tonnes in the marketing year 2020/21 (Oct-Sep), according to a Global Agricultural Information Network report by USDA.

Exports are forecast to reach a record 4.15 million bags i.e., 249, 000 metric tons assuming a complete recovery worldwide from the COVID-19 crisis. This will be 250,000 bags more than 2019/20 exports.

For the 2019/20 marketing year, experts say Ethiopian exports will reach around 3.9 million bags i.e., 234,000 metric tons which is 16,400 metric tons less than 2018/19 exports.

In terms of domestic coffee consumption in 2019/20 is estimated to be 3.14 million bags (188,400 metric tons), 50,000 bags less than in 2018/19.

This reduction could be due to social distancing measures put in place in response to COVID-19, which has resulted in lower demand at informal outdoor coffee stands.

Also, coffee is typically served at meetings and social events and these gatherings are currently restricted. This drop in social coffee consumption has not been off-set by an increase in at-home family consumption.

Post forecasts Ethiopia coffee consumption in MY 2020/21 will reach 3.4 million bags, an increase of 260,000 bags (15,600 metric tons) over the 2019/20 estimate.

This estimate assumes a return to normal consumption levels after global COVID-19 pandemic effects diminish.

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