Coffee exports rise in August

Uganda’s coffee exports rose 43.7% in August compared to the same period last year, while their value increased by 56.4% year on year.

Coffee exports in the month came to 418,340 60-kilo bags valued at $47 million, versus 291,059 bags worth $30m in the same period last year.

August’s exports were made up of 382,520 bags of Robusta coffee worth $42.3m and 35,820 bags of Arabica coffee worth $4.77m. Robusta quantities were up 56.2%, while its value rose 71.8% compared to the same period last year. Arabica coffee, however, registered year on year declines of 22.4% and 12.9% in quantity and value respectively.

In the twelve months ending August, coffee exports totalled 4.47m bags valued at $530 million, corresponding to increases of 31.9% and 59.2% in quantity and value respectively compared to the same period last year.

The majority of exports in August were to the European Union, which had a share of 70.6%, followed by Sudan with 11% and India with a 6.5% share.

Coffee is Uganda’s most valuable export and contributed 15.5% – $490.4m – to the total export value of $3,163.7m in financial year 2016/2017.