Uganda exported 218,475 60-kilogram bags of coffee worth $16.8 million in May, almost double the amount earned by the east African country during the same month last year, officials said on Monday. Exports in May 2004 were 180,901 bags worth $8.6 million, and the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) said rising world prices since then had led to a 95 percent rise in income.
"The continued rise in volume was (also) accelerated by the upward trend in coffee prices on the global market that prompted farmers and traders who had on held their stocks to release them," UCDA said in a monthly report.
Exports were slightly higher than in April 2005, when 211,388 bags worth $15.3 million were shipped. The weighted average price for Arabica beans in May was $2.19 per kg, three percent up on prices in April.
The composite price was $1.28, eight cents higher than in the previous month. Organic Budgies beans fetched the highest price of $2.79 per kg in May, the report said.
Average prices for Robusta beans, which as usual made up about 75 percent of Ugandan exports, were up 10 cents at $0.97 per kg, compared with April.
Organic Robusta sold at $1.35. Farmgate prices rose to between 800 and 900 Ugandan shillings ($0.52) per kg for lower grade kabuki, up from between 650 and 700 shillings in April.
FAQ beans fetched between 1,800 and 1,900 shillings, up from 1,600 shillings in April, and reaching a record high of 2,300 shillings in Bushenyi district, the coffee farming hub of western Uganda.
"The harvesting period in southern region Masker, Rake, Sembabule districts is peaking, though with a relatively smaller crop than last year estimated to reduce by about 20 percent attributed mainly to drought," UCDA said.
European Union nations remained the main importers of Ugandan coffee, accounting for 85.4 percent of sales in May, followed by neighbouring Sudan with 10.3 percent. Exports in June were projected at 270,000 bags, UCDA said.
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