By Umaru Kashaka
Uganda earned $952.24m (about sh3.5 trillion) from coffee exports in the last 12 months, up from $883.30m (sh3. trillion) in the previous coffee year, a report by the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) has said.
“This represents an increase of 6% and 8% in quantity and value, respectively,” the report that was released on Wednesday stated.
The twelve months are from November 2022 to October 2023.
UCDA also said 82% of the total volume was exported by 10 exporters, out of 50 companies which performed during the month of October compared to 80% in September 2023.
Coffee exports in October alone amounted to 470,080 60-kilo bags, worth $78.96m (about sh296b) and this comprised 410,113 bags of Robusta valued at $66.87m and 59,967 bags of Arabica valued at $12.10m.
“This was an increase of 3.35% and 18.32% 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 (October 2022), Robusta increased by 3.42% and 26.25% in quantity and value respectively, while Arabica exports increased by 2.86% in quantity but decreased by 12.18% in value,” the report said.
It noted that the monthly coffee exports performance was higher than the previous year on account of a good crop harvest in southwestern Uganda and the prevailing good prices on the global scene which prompted exporters to release their stocks.
Destinations
The destinations of Uganda’s coffee exports during the month of October 2023 shown that Italy maintained the highest market share with 28.95%, compared to 35.11 % last month.
It was followed by Germany 17.19% (22.48%), Spain 9.74% (3.92%), India 7.40% (7.08%) and Algeria 5.56% (4.25%).
The report noted that the first 10 major destinations of Uganda coffee took a market share of 87.62% compared to 91.55% last month.
Coffee exports to Africa amounted to 90,042 bags, a market share of 19% compared to 104,844 bags (18%) the previous month. African countries that imported Uganda coffee included Sudan, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya. Europe remained the main destination for Uganda’s coffees with a 68% imports share, slightly lower than 70% in September 2023.
Uganda is the leading coffee exporting country in Africa after Ethiopia and it is well known for its production of Robusta coffee taking at least 80% of the entire production and 20% of Arabica coffee.
