Increased consumption in Africa leads to tight supply of coffee

Brazil, the world's largest exporter of coffee, has suffered a decline in coffee production due to a severe drought, while local consumption of coffee in Africa, another major source of coffee exports, continues to grow, leading to a continuing strain on global coffee bean supply. The price of Arabian coffee beans has risen by 80% so far this year. Last year, all African countries produced a total of 14.7 million bags of 60 kg coffee beans, while Ethiopia, the largest coffee grower, produced 6.6 million bags of coffee, most of which were consumed locally and exported only 2.8 million bags. Uganda produced 3.8 million bags of coffee that year, of which 3.58 million bags were exported. As many countries on the continent continue to maintain an average annual GDP growth rate of more than 6 per cent, the demand for coffee consumption of urban labor force in African countries is expected to continue to grow. At the same time, due to the lack of necessary irrigation facilities and daily maintenance inputs, coffee production in Africa is greatly affected by the weather, and some farmers begin to give up growing coffee and switch to other cash crops, which may continue the tight supply of coffee beans.