June shipments meet expectations

June shipments reached 38 K MT, not quite the 40 K MT of June 2021 but not far off it! It is clear that the current logistics constraints, in part brought on by reduced imports, have played a role in restricting the movement of coffee for export. We expect exports to continue at an elevated level in July, however logistics continue strained. Shippers are waiting for up to 3 weeks to get containers, erratic shipment schedules and limited slots on vessels continue to be the norm. Additionally, transit times from Djibouti to Europe are much longer than they should be.

Exports in 2022 are currently keeping pace with last year’s exports, however the drop year-on-year recorded in April has not been clawed back, probably because of the difficult logistics more than anything else. It will be interesting to see if over the coming months the high 2021/22 crop predicted in the Djimmah and Lekempti areas is reflected in exports. Southern regions (Guji/Sidamo/Yirgacheffe) have a lower current crop vs 2020/21 but this should be compensated by the higher crop in the other regions: West, Southwest and North. The picture so far is that the pace of exports of the current crop is good (second only to the previous crop’s exports) and we expect this trend to continue.

Insecurity upcountry in parts of Guji and, in particular, in areas North and West of Addis Ababa are restricting the movement of coffee from the growing areas to mills for processing. Also wet weather continues to hamper the movement of coffee from the interior to Addis Ababa.

The UN has clearly demonstrated that the organisation believes the current stability and cessation of hostilities between Government forces and Tigrayan rebels by declaring its willinous to rebuild infrastructure in the North of the country destroyed by fighting, for the BBC’s take on things pls follow the link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world/africa?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=62cd8f4cc0a04b7058298760%26UN%20to%20help%20rebuild%20Ethiopia%27s%20war-hit%20Tigray%20region%262022-07-12T15%3A19%3A57.392Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:deecb9e4-3988-4c43-b50e-e866752c3f98&pinned_post_asset_id=62cd8f4cc0a04b7058298760&pinned_post_type=share

Birr 52.06 = USD 1

Have a good weekend.