Indonesia's robusta coffee bean exports from the main growing area in southern Sumatra slumped 68 percent in December from a year ago, government trade data showed on Monday, as adverse weather conditions hit output. Indonesia shipped 8,415.400 tonnes of robusta coffee beans in December, versus 26,255.23 tonnes last December, Muchtar Lutfie, research head of the Indonesia Coffee Exporters Association's (AEKI) Lampung branch, said in a statement.
Shipments rose 41 percent from November's export figure of 5,948.18 tonnes. A combination of heavy rains and hot weather conditions, played havoc with the flowering season last year, sending stock levels and exports sharply lower. The Indonesian harvest normally starts in December or January, but heavy rains damaged the previous crop last year, causing a severe supply shortage. Lutfie said weather conditions in Lampung were currently good, with some areas in central areas already flowering and likely to contribute to a larger harvest in 2012 than in 2011. He added that he expects this year's harvest to begin in April or May. Indonesia is the world's fourth largest coffee producer after Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam, and the world's number two robusta coffee producer after Vietnam.
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