Exports of coffee beans in the first quarter of 2006 from Indonesia's key growing region of Sumatra island fell 20.8 percent due to limited stocks, industry data showed on Tuesday.
Exports fell to 50,836 tonnes of coffee beans in first three-month of the year, from 64,198 tonnes in the same period last year. March exports alone fell 47 percent to 11,944 tonnes, from 22,556 tonnes a year ago.
"Coffee output this year is expected to be lower than last year because of erratic weather. Also, there aren't any carryover stocks left in Lampung this year," said a dealer there. The beans were sold via Panjang port, in the country's key growing belt of Lampung province, on Sumatra Island.
Industry officials have said Indonesia's coffee bean exports were expected to fall 30 percent to 245,000 tonnes in 2006 as heavy rains cut output in the world's fourth-largest producer. Output is expected to drop 30 percent to 315,000 tonnes from around 450,000 tonnes last year. Robusta constitutes 85 percent of Indonesia's coffee output, while the rest is aromatic and high-value arabica. Lampung accounts for three-quarters of Indonesia's coffee bean output.