Uganda’s coffee exports in September 2020 amounted to 506,470 60-kilo bags worth US$44.64m (Shs166.9bn), the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) has revealed in its latest report.
This comprised 445,465 bags (US$37.25m) of Robusta & 61,009 bags (US$7.39m) of Arabica. This was an increase of 39.82% and 28.78% in quantity and value respectively compared to the same month last year.
By comparing quantity of coffee exported by type in the same month of last Coffee Year (September2019), Robusta increased in quantity by 43.30% and 28.63% in quantity and value respectively. Arabica exports also increased in both quantity and value by 18.80% & 29.56% respectively.
The September report reveals that the increase in exports has been attributed to increased production on account of fruition of newly planted coffee and favourable weather.
“That notwithstanding, logistical issues such as lack of containers & delays of truck drivers at border posts somewhat affected movement of cargo,” the report reads.
It adds that coffee exports for the 12 months (Coffee year 2019/20) amounted to 5,360,85960-kilo bags worth US$512.23million compared to 4,439,80860-kilo bags worth US$433.95million the previous year.
This represents 20.75% and 18.04% increase in both quantity and value respectively.
The report adds that the average export price was US$1.47 per kilo, 1 cent lower than US$1.48 per kilo realized last month.
“Robusta exports accounted for 887.95% of total exports compared to 88.11% in August 2020. The average Robusta price was US$1.39 per kilo, the same as the previous month. Screen 14 fetched the highest price of US$1.86 per kilo, a premium of 54 cents over Screen 12 and 38 cents over Screen18,” the report reads.
The destinations of Uganda’s coffee exports
Italy maintained the highest market share with 29.49% in September 2020 compared with 29.38% last month.
It was followed by Sudan with 22.54%, Germany 12.37%, Belgium8.15% and India 7.39%.
Coffee exports to Africa amounted to 138,196bags, a market share of 27.29% compared to 156,591bags (27.23%) the previous month.
African countries included Sudan, Morocco, Kenya, Algeria, Egypt and South Sudan.
Outlook for October 2020
According to UCDA, coffee exports are projected to be 400,000bags as exporters await the main crop from Central and Eastern regions since the main harvesting season south of the Equator ended in September 2020.
