Why Do Indonesia’s Coffee Production & Export Decline in 2014?

Irfan Anwar, Chairman at the AEKI, said that Indonesian coffee bean production will fall slightly this year as drought and outbreaks of pests and diseases have impacted on the coffee trees. However, recently rains have come to Sumatra again and may limit the decline. The most important coffee growing regions on Sumatra are Bengkulu, Lampung, Aceh and North Sumatra. The other island that accounts for considerable coffee output in Indonesia is Sulawesi.

Coffee bean exports from Indonesia are expected to have fallen 10 percent in 2014 from 460,000 ton in the previous year. Robusta coffee bean exports from Sumatra reached 135,179 tons in the first ten months of 2014, compared with 355,771 tons in full year 2013. However, apart from the weather, coffee exports from Indonesia have also declined due to increased domestic coffee consumption. Although still low, domestic coffee consumption is growing rapidly in Indonesia (in line with global coffee consumption) due to changing consumer habits amid rising per capita GDP in combination with a large population (numbering about 250 million people). Anwar said that domestic consumption will rise to 350,000 tons of coffee in 2015, up from an estimated 300,000 tons this year, and 260,000 in 2013.

Anwar added that in 2015 Indonesia will import about 100,000 tons of coffee (mainly the lower quality Robusta type) from Vietnam, up from 85,000 tons of imported coffee this year and 70,000 tons in 2013.

Coffee harvests run from March to August and (a smaller crop) between September and January. Approximately 95 percent of the coffee production in Indonesia, covering 1.3 million hectares, originates from small hold farmers.

Further Reading:

• Coffee in Indonesia: Lower Output but Higher Earnings on Brazil Drought
• Drinking Coffee Becomes Expensive when it Doesn’t Rain in Brazil

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