Indonesian coffee output may drop 30 percent this year

Coffee production in Indonesia, the world's second-largest robusta producer after Vietnam, could fall as much as 30 percent to around 400,000 tonnes in 2011 due to a failure in pollination after last year's persistent rains, the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute said on Friday.
But next year's output could be normal as the dry season returned this year to coffee plantations in Indonesia, which accounts for about 6 percent of global output, said Soetanto Abdoellah, head of research division of the state-run institute. "In 2010, there was almost no dry season in coffee plantations in Indonesia. It caused failure in pollination," Soetanto told Reuters on the sidelines of a cocoa conference on the Indonesian resort island of Bali. "Because of that, production in 2011 will drop. It will be a big drop of around 30 percent to around 400,000 tonnes. That's because of a long wet season in 2010," said Soetanto, who is based in East Java.