BOGOTA: Colombia produced 914,000 60-kg bags of washed arabica coffee in March, the national coffee federation said on Wednesday, down 11.9 percent from the same month a year earlier.

The output figure is the lowest since April 2018.

The federation said the main coffee-producing provinces that harvest during the first half of the year anticipate picking will start this month or next.

Exports last month were up 10.4 percent from the same month in 2018, however, to 1.14 million bags.

Colombia produced 13.6 million 60-kg bags of washed arabica coffee in 2018, down 4.5 percent from 2017 production.