Tanzania sees good quality coffee

DAR ES SALAAM – Tanzania expects a 20 per cent fall in coffee output in 2005/06 (April-March) but better quality coffees, the Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB) said yesterday.

The TCB predicted a drop to 45 000 tonnes in 2005/06 from 54 000 previously. “Production forecast will fall a bit to a preliminary figure of 45 000 metric tonnes but it’s a conservative figure.We are likely to revise it because there was good rainfall in growing areas,” Leslie Omari, director general at the TCB, told Reuters.”We will have less coffee from the southern and western regions because of the high yield cycle.After a good harvest, you expect the next not to be as good.”The country earned US$64 million (N$429 million) in 2004/05 compared with US$47 million in 2003/04, which the TCB says encouraged farmers to give better care to their bushes.”The prices were firm in that season and that was a motivation for the farmers,” Omari said.”I believe the coffee in the auctions will be of high quality because farmers were motivated by the prices.”According to TCB figures, arabica coffee sold at an average of US$2,5 per kg in 2004/05 compared with US$1,5 the year before.Robusta varieties were bought at an average of US$0,58 per kg compared with US$0,30 in the previous season.Omari said prices were higher due to a shortfall in production in Brazil and Vietnam amid demand for top quality grades.The next marketing season starts in August and buying is about to start in all growing regions, Omari said, adding that the price outlook was positive.Arabica, which grows in the north and south of the country, account for 70 per cent of total output, while robusta is grown in the west.Tanzania sells most of its coffee through a central auction in the northern town of Moshi.In the past two years, authorities have allowed direct buyer-seller transactions for premium specialty coffees, usually to buyers in Germany and Japan.-Nampa-Reuters”Production forecast will fall a bit to a preliminary figure of 45 000 metric tonnes but it’s a conservative figure.We are likely to revise it because there was good rainfall in growing areas,” Leslie Omari, director general at the TCB, told Reuters.”We will have less coffee from the southern and western regions because of the high yield cycle.After a good harvest, you expect the next not to be as good.”The country earned US$64 million (N$429 million) in 2004/05 compared with US$47 million in 2003/04, which the TCB says encouraged farmers to give better care to their bushes.”The prices were firm in that season and that was a motivation for the farmers,” Omari said.”I believe the coffee in the auctions will be of high quality because farmers were motivated by the prices.”According to TCB figures, arabica coffee sold at an average of US$2,5 per kg in 2004/05 compared with US$1,5 the year before.Robusta varieties were bought at an average of US$0,58 per kg compared with US$0,30 in the previous season.Omari said prices were higher due to a shortfall in production in Brazil and Vietnam amid demand for top quality grades.The next marketing season starts in August and buying is about to start in all growing regions, Omari said, adding that the price outlook was positive.Arabica, which grows in the north and south of the country, account for 70 per cent of total output, while robusta is grown in the west.Tanzania sells most of its coffee through a central auction in the northern town of Moshi.In the past two years, authorities have allowed direct buyer-seller transactions for premium specialty coffees, usually to buyers in Germany and Japan.-Nampa-Reuters