Coffee exports from India fell 7.5 percent to 79,021 tonnes in October-January on lower stocks and rising local demand. Arrivals from the new crop in coming months are expected to stem the fall, though. In value terms, the exports rose to $243.05 million from $218.91 million a year ago, the Coffee Board said in a statement.
"If we look at previous year's exports, it was huge. Therefore, most of the stocks got exhausted, probably it may pick up as new crop is coming in," said a source with the state-run Coffee Board.
Due to high carry over stocks last year, India had shipped a record 358,278 tonnes in the previous coffee year. But the stock has exhausted now, traders said.
"Coffee has not yet come into the market. Robusta arrivals will start in March," said Sahadev Balakrishna, partner at grower and exporter Netraconda Estates.
India, the world's fifth biggest producer, accounts for only 4.5 percent of the world's output, but exports 70-80 percent of its produce. Italy, Russia and Germany are the top three buyers of Indian coffee.
Demand for coffee has been growing at about 6 percent annually for the past couple years in India, where a mushrooming of trendy coffee shops are sustained by an expanding middle class making a traditional shift from tea to coffee.
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