KAMPALA, May 20 (Reuters) – Uganda’s coffee exports in April jumped 49% from the same period last year as new, productive trees reached maturity and favourable weather helped drive up shipments, according to the state-run coffee regulator.

The east African country’s coffee exports jumped to 537,538 60-kilogram bags compared to 359,973 bags in the same month last year. Most of Ugandan coffee production is robusta, and surging output of the varietal drove this year’s export increase. Uganda also produces some arabica, but arabica figures slowed as it is the off-year in the bean’s biennial production cycle.

Robusta output surged because of “newly planted coffee which has started yielding supported by favourable weather as well,” the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) said in a report.

Upward global coffee prices, too, helped to woo exporters to release more of their stocks, the report said. Uganda is Africa’s largest coffee exporter, followed by Ethiopia. (Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Ayenat Mersie)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions – https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html