The Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) says the coffee exports for January 2023 amounted to 494226, 60-Kilo bags worth US$ 67.35 million.
This comprised of 412282 bags of Robusta valued at US $49.57 million and 81944 bags of Arabica valued at US$ 17.78 million.
This was an increase of 22.97% and 8.74% 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 (January 2022), Robusta increased by 30.91% and 23.84% in quantity and value respectively, while Arabica exports decreased by 5.75% and 18.85% in quantity and value, respectively.
In it’s report, UCDA noted that despite most regions experiencing drought, monthly coffee exports performance was higher than the previous year.
It revealed that this was mainly driven by exporters who off-loaded coffee from their warehouses as the global Robusta market started correcting upwards on account of reduced global supplies from major origins, Vietnam and Brazil.
Arabica exports were lower compared to the same month last year as this is an off-year of the biennial cycle characteristic of Arabica coffee, UCDA noted.
Coffee exports for 12 months (February 2022-January 2023) totalled 5.72 million bags worth US$ 865.34 million compared to 6.72 million bags worth US$ 741.03 million the previous year (February 2021-January 2022).
This represents a decrease of 15% in quantity but an increase of 17% in value.
Exports by Type and Grade
Coffee exports by type, grade and average realized price for each grade during the month of January 2023.
The average export price was US$ 2.27 per kilo, 10 U.S cent lower than US$ 2.3 per kilo realized in December 2022. It was 30 US cents lower than in January 2022 (US $ 2.57/kilo).
Robusta exports accounted for 83% of total exports higher than 79% in December 2022.
The average Robusta price was US$ 2.00 per kilo, US cents 4 lower than the previous month.
Screen 18, 15 and 14 Fair Trade fetched the highest price of US$ 2.23 per kilo. It was followed by Washed Robusta at US$ 2.20 per kilo.
The share of Sustainable/washed coffee to total Robusta exports was only 2.26% slightly lower than 2.55% in December 2022.
Arabica fetched an average price of US$ 3.62 per kilo, same as previous month (December 2022). The highest price was Mt. Elgon AB sold at US$ 8.71 per kilo a premium of US $ 4.91 over conventional Bugisu AA.
It was followed by Mt. Elgon B sold at US$ 6.97 per kilo, a premium of US $ 3.17 over Conventional Bugisu AA.
Drugar was sold at US$ 3.31 per kilo, a discount of US cents 50 from Bugisu AA. Drugar exports were 30% of total Arabica exports compared to 39% the previous month.
The share of sustainable Arabica exports to total Arabica exports was 8% compared to 17% last month.
According to UCDA, Uganda’s coffee exports to Italy maintained the highest market share with 38.93% compared with 38.47% last month.
It was followed by Sudan 19.27% (16.63%), Germany 12.49% (11.67%), India 8.47% (7.71%) and Belgium 3.59% (6.20%). The figures in brackets represent percentage market share held in December 2022.
The first 10 major destinations of Uganda coffee took a market share of 93.31% compared to 92.24 % last month.
Coffee exports to Africa amounted to 119,545 bags, a market share of 24% compared to 85,044 bags (20%) the previous month.
African countries that imported Uganda coffee included Sudan, Morocco, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria Kenya and Somalia. This reflects considerable exports to the MAGREB region.
Europe remained the main destination for Uganda’s coffees with a 62% imports share, lower than 64% in December 2022.
UCDA further revealed that world coffee production for 2022/23 is forecasted to rebound 6.6 million bags from the previous year to 172.8 million due primarily to Brazil’s Arabica crop entering the on-year of the biennial production cycle.
Global consumption is expected to rise 800,000 bags to 167.9 million, with the largest gains in the European Union, the United States of America and Brazil.
World coffee bean exports are forecast 3.0 million bags lower to 116.1 million as losses in Brazil, Vietnam, and India more than offset gains in Honduras and Colombia. Ending stocks are expected 1.5 million bags higher to 34.1 million.
