Coffee-bean exports from Indonesia’s Sumatra island, the main growing area in the world’s third-largest robusta producer, surged 58 percent in June from a month earlier as the main harvest neared its peak.
Shipments from Lampung, Bengkulu and South Sumatra provinces climbed to 14,719 metric tons from 9,313 tons in May, according to data from the Lampung trade and industry office today. Sales were 17,914 tons in June last year.
Rising supplies from Indonesia may help to halt this year’s 18 percent rally in the price of the bitter-tasting robusta variety that’s used in instant drinks and espressos, potentially easing costs at companies including Nestle SA.
“Farmers have already picked about 85 percent of crops on the higher-lying areas,” Mochtar Luthfie, head of research and development at the Lampung branch of the Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters and Industry, said in an interview. The main harvest will peak in July, with smaller quantities continuing until September, he added.
The beans were shipped from Panjang port in Lampung to 26 countries last month including Japan and Italy, data showed. First-half sales plunged 60 percent to 50,664 tons. Lampung, Bengkulu and South Sumatra represent 75 percent of supplies from Indonesia, which ranks third behind Vietnam and Brazil.
The country may harvest 10 million to 11 million bags in the 2012-2013 season, up from 7 million to 8 million bags a year earlier, the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute estimated on March 7. Production will rise because the weather was favorable during flowering, the institute said. A bag usually weighs 60 kilograms (132 pounds).
September-delivery robusta futures dropped as much as 0.6 percent to $2,122 a ton on the NYSE Liffe Exchange in London, and traded at $2,127 at 3:45 p.m. in Jakarta.
Bloomberg
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