UGANDA – Uganda coffee exports in July 2020 amounted to 543,251 bags each weighing 60kg, a rise of 17.15% from the same month last year and fetched US$49.78 million, a 13.67% rise from the corresponding period last year.
This is the highest amount earned of coffee exported from the country in a month since 1991, according to Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA).
Last month, the country earned US$39.99 million with the total exported amount being 420,373 bags.
The authority further noted that coffee exports for the 12 months (August 2019 to July 2020) amounted to 5,185,423 bags worth US$502.27 million compared to 4,239,095 bags worth US$418.39 million of the previous year.
This represents 22.32% and 20.05% increase in both quantity and value respectively
By type, the exported amount in July comprised of 467,160 bags of Robusta, a 20.84% increase from the same period last year, earning US$39.99 million
For Arabica, the bags exported were 76,091 bags worth US$9.98 million. This was a 1.34% decrease in quantity and 15.74% increase in value.
The increase in exports has been attributed to the increased production on account of fruition of the newly planted coffee, and favourable weather.
Exporters also drew down on their stocks after easing of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, exports have to some extent been affected by logistical issues such as lack of containers.
The top 10 export companies in the country, exported 81.93% of the total volume out of 42 companies.
Kyagalanyi Coffee Ltd led with a market share of 15.58%. It was followed by Ugacof (U) Ltd 14.23% ; Ideal Quality Commodities Ltd 11.01%; Olam Uganda Ltd 9.33%; Kawacom (U) Ltd 7.71%; Louis Dreyfus Company (U) Ltd 6.79%; and Touton Uganda Limited 6.01%.
On the other hand, the top 10 buyers held a market share of 68.93% of total exports. Sucafina led with a market share of 12.57%. It was followed by Olam International 12.06%; Altasheel Import and Export Enterprises 11.40%; Volcafe 10.53%; Ecom Agroindustrial 5.39%; and Aldwami Co. 4.45%.
The destinations of Uganda’s coffee exports during the month included Italy, who maintained the highest market share with 33.14%. It was followed by Sudan 23.41%, Germany 10.74% and Spain 5.22%.
Coffee exports to Africa amounted to 158,999 bags, a market share of 29.27% compared to 106,715 bags (25.39%) the previous month.
Africa countries included Sudan, Morocco, South Africa, Kenya, South Sudan and Egypt. Europe remains the main destination for Uganda’s coffees with a 57.36% imports share.
According to the report, global coffee exports amounted to 10.57 million bags in June 2020, compared with 11.15 million in June 2019.
Exports in the first 9 months of Coffee Year 2019/20 (Oct 2019 to May 2020) have decreased by 4.7% to 95.36 million bags compared to 100.46 million bags in the same period in 2018/19.
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