Indonesia Sumatra Coffee Export july 2012 : Coffee-bean exports from South Sumatra, the main growing area in the world’s third-largest robusta producer, surged 47 percent in July from a month ago as prices rallied and the main harvest neared its peak.
Shipments from Lampung, Bengkulu and South Sumatra provinces jumped to 21,595 metric tons from 14,719 tons in June, according to data from the Lampung trade and industry office released on Wednesday. Sales were 18,875 tons in July last year.
Rising supplies from Indonesia, which ranks third after Vietnam and Brazil, may help curb a rally in the prices of the bitter-tasting robusta variety that’s used in instant drinks and espressos. Futures surged 24 percent in London this year.
“Exporters are responding to the higher prices,” Mochtar Luthfie, head of research and development at the Lampung branch of the Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters and Industry, said by phone from Bandar Lampung. “Supplies are also increasing as the main harvest on the higher-lying areas is peaking.”
The September-delivery robusta contract closed little changed at $2,237 a ton on NYSE Liffe Exchange on Tuesday.
Output from southern Sumatra may rise 50 percent to 300,000 tons this year as less rainfall helped crops during blossoming and drying process, Sumita, head of the Lampung branch of the association, said on July 23.
Shipments dropped 50 percent in the first seven months of the year to 72,259 tons, according to Bloomberg calculations. Lampung, Bengkulu and South Sumatra represent 75 percent of supplies from Indonesia. The beans were shipped from Panjang port in Lampung.
