UGANDA’S coffee exports have plunged, with this season’s total earnings half those of the same period last season, a Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) report said on Tuesday. The report said that in the last six months, Uganda earned $54.36m from 1.45m 60-kilo bags, compared with $107.34m from 1.66m bags – a drop of 49.4% and 12.8% in value and quantity, respectively. It attributed the drop to low international prices which brought down the unit price of a kilo of coffee to an average of 64 US cents, compared with $1.12 during the last season – a drop of 42.9%. The monthly performance was also lower than the previous month at 212 073 bags worth $8.1m exported in March, compared with 296 067 bags worth $11.35m exported in February. Up to 70.1% of Uganda’s export was robusta and 29.9% arabica. The low international coffee prices were worsened by oversupply, according to the UCDA. – AFP
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