Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia expects its coffee exports to increase to US$1.4 billion until the end of this year although exports were recorded at only US$333 million in the first semester.

"Our target is more or less the same as last years. We hope to catch up in the second semester," deputy minister of trade Bayu Krisnamurthi reported after a press conference for the 3rd Indonesia Coffee Festival here on Thursday.

Bayu noted that exports in the first semester were still relatively small, but in the near future coffee price is predicted to rise due to bad weather in Brazil, which is one of the worlds largest coffee producers.

"The weather is not good for growing coffee in Brazil, and this will affect harvests and result in price rise. Hopefully, we can achieve the export target or minimally reach the target of last year," he said.

Brazil meets 40 percent of the total world coffee demand, reaching 8.7 million tons a year.

Bayu stated that currently coffee has been entering a new era in Indonesia, with the issue shifting from volume to value of the commodity.

He pointed out that Indonesia has been producing different coffee products based on regions such as Aceh Gayo coffee, Mandailing coffee, Java coffee, Toraja coffee, and others.

"Indonesian coffee is more and more segmented based on its quality and variety," he claimed.

According to data from the Ministry of Trade, the United States has so far been the largest importer of coffee from Indonesia, reaching 16.27 percent, followed by Germany 12.73 percent, France 8.48 percent, Italy 5.8 percent, and Japan 5.59 percent.

Indonesia is now recorded as the worlds seventh largest coffee exporter. Brazil, meanwhile, is the worlds largest exporter controlling a market share of 16.07 percent, followed by Vietnam 10.34 percent, Germany 8.25 percent, Switzerland 7.6 percent, and Colombia 6.72 percent.

Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2014