| Colombia's Oct coffee output up 48 pct y/y-growers |
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* Exports up 9 percent in October versus year ago
* Output fell to three-decade lows last year * Federation says 2010 production to be near 9 mln bags (Adds details on output, exports) BOGOTA, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Colombian coffee output in October shot 48 percent higher year-on-year to 807,000 60-kg bags while exports rose 9 percent to 584,000 sacks, the Latin American nation's growers federation said on Tuesday. Colombia, the world's largest producer of high-quality washed arabica, is seeing its coffee crop recover this year after falling to three-decade lows last year due to bad weather and a tree renovation program. The federation has said its output target would be between 9 million and 10 million sacks with a medium range of 9.5 million but the body said on Tuesday that 2010 output would be nearer 9 million bags. "The Andean country, producer of smooth coffee of high quality, expects to produce around 9 million 60-kg sacks in 2010, 15 percent more than the 7.8 million bags produced in 2009," the federation said in a statement. In Colombia, growers harvest the main crop mainly from October to December in the provinces of Antioquia, Caldas, Quindio, Risaralda and North of Valle. The states account for 51.9 percent of the country's annual output. The group said that the country has produced 6.78 million bags from January to October, up from 6.23 million sacks in the same period last year. Exports, however, dropped 10 percent in the same period to 5.84 million sacks, it said. Arabica coffee futures clawed their way to a fresh 13-year top on Tuesday as prices were supported by tight supplies of high-quality washed arabicas following several years of below-par crops in key producer Colombia. (Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra; editing by Jim Marshall and Marguerita Choy) Wednesday, 10 November 2010 03:27:41 |