Africa’s coffee exports rise 8.0 percent in December 2024
In South America, coffee exports declined by 2.1 percent to 5.6 million bags in December 2024. This marks the region's first negative growth in 16 months, with the last decrease recorded in September 2023, when exports fell by 3.5 percent
KAMPALA, February 7, 2025: Exports of all forms of coffee from Africa rose by 8.0 percent, reaching 1.21 million bags in December 2024, up from 1.12 million bags in December 2023, according to the International Coffee Organisation’s Coffee Market Report for January 2025.
The report notes that Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania were the three key contributors to the region’s growth in December 2024. ”The combined exports from these three countries increased by 28.0 percent, totalling 0.67 million bags compared to 0.53 million bags in December 2023,” says the report.
“The disparity in growth rates between the main positive contributors and the region as a whole was due to the significant decline in exports from Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Rwanda, which fell by 69.1 percent to 0.05 million bags in December 2024, down from 0.15 million bags in December 2023,” the report adds.
Global coffee exports drop
Meanwhile, the report says global green bean exports in December 2024 totalled 9.73 million bags, compared with 10.87 million bags in the same month the previous year, marking a decrease of 10.5 percent. ‘This, according to the report, represents the second negative growth in the past 14 months.
“Three out of the four coffee groups saw their exports fall in December, with Robusta suffering the largest decline in absolute volume. As a result, Robusta accounted for 76.3 percent of the 1.14 million-bag drop in total green bean exports. Only Colombian Milds saw positive growth in December 2024,” the report states.
In South America, coffee exports declined by 2.1 percent to 5.6 million bags in December 2024. This marks the region’s first negative growth in 16 months, with the last decrease recorded in September 2023, when exports fell by 3.5 percent. “The region’s relatively modest 2.1 percent drop was primarily due to a 7.4 percent decline in exports from Brazil, which was largely offset by a 22.1 percent increase from Colombia,” the report observes. “For the two countries, export volumes in December 2024 were 3.83 million bags from Brazil and 1.31 million bags from Colombia. For Brazil, December 2024 represented the first negative growth in 16 months, while Colombia recorded its fourteenth consecutive month of growth,” says the report.
Peru’s exports fell by 14.0 percent to 0.4 million bags in December 2024, marking the third consecutive month of decline, and the report suggests that Peru’s lower-than-expected exports may be linked to depleted stocks at the start of the 2023/24 coffee year, as well as increased demand for Peruvian coffee due to supply issues in Ethiopia. This resulted in Peru likely starting the 2024/25 coffee year with low or nearly depleted stocks, leading to reduced exports from October to December 2024, says the report.
The Report says exports from Asia and Oceania dropped by 31.2 percent to 3.31 million bags in December 2024. “This decline was mainly driven by Vietnam, where exports fell by 39.5 percent to 2.14 million bags, down from 3.54 million bags in December 2023. These were the lowest December exports since 2014, when Vietnam shipped 1.82 million bags,” the report highlights. “The significant drop in exports may be due to tight domestic supply, despite the 2024/25 harvest having begun in October. As there is typically a four-month lag between harvest and shipments to importing countries, any potential increase in exports will likely not be reflected until February 2025.”
In Mexico and Central America, exports of all forms of coffee increased by 0.9 percent to 0.61 million bags in December 2024, compared with 0.6 million bags in December 2023. ”Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and Nicaragua were the key drivers of the region’s growth, with combined exports rising by 33.0 percent, a net gain of 0.12 million bags,” says the report. ”However, this positive trend was somewhat offset by a 59.5 percent drop in exports from Honduras, which fell to 0.09 million bags from 0.21 million bags in December 2023. This represents the third consecutive month of decline for Honduras, possibly due to cautious industry practices and supply management following an “off-year” in its biennial production cycle. The 2024/25 harvest in Honduras was reported to have been delayed.”
Exports of coffee by forms
Total exports of soluble coffee fell by 28.2 percent in December 2024, reaching 0.94 million bags, down from 1.31 million bags in December 2023. Soluble coffee’s share of total coffee exports for the 2024/25 coffee year to December 2024 decreased to 8.8 percent, from 9.6 percent in the same period of 2023/24. Brazil remained the largest exporter of soluble coffee, shipping 0.42 million bags. Exports of roasted beans dropped by 20.9 percent in December 2024, totalling 54,546 bags, compared with 68,943 bags in December 2023.
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