According to a statement by the International Coffee Organization (ICO), world output of coffee in 2011-2012 will be 3.3 million bags lower compared to 2010-2011. Although the world’s robusta crop will grow by 3.9%, Arabica bean output will fall by 6.2% offsetting robusta’s performance. The drop in overall output is largely due to a lower level of coffee production in Africa and South America.
Coffee production in Africa may drop by as much as 18% in 2011-2012 because of a markedly smaller crop yield in Ethiopia, the continent’s largest coffee producer.
Meanwhile, South American coffee production will fall by 4.5% to 60.2 million bags, according to the IOC. Coffee output in Brazil, the world’s largest grower, is expected to drop by 9% from 48.1 to 43.5 million bags, as trees enter the lower-yielding half of a two-year cycle.
The IOC’s figures indicate that global coffee consumption was estimated at 134 million bags in the 2010 calendar year, up from 131.3 million bags in 2009.