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Companies dominating Uganda’s coffee exports
What you need to know:
- Ecom Agro-industrial bought 5.27 per cent or 22,152 bags while Cofftea, AldwamiCo, Bercher Coffee Consulting bought 4.58 per cent (19,250 bags), 3.74 per cent (15,720 bags) and 2.99 per cent (12,557 bags) of Uganda’s coffee, respectively.
For six months in a row, Kyagalanyi Coffee exported more coffee than any other exporter in June, according to data from Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA).
UCDA indicates that at least 37 companies exported coffee to different parts of the world in June.
However, 80.89 per cent of the total export volume was contributed by only 10 companies.
Coffee remains one of Uganda’s largest foreign exchange earners.
In the period running between June 2019 and June 2020, according to UCDA, coffee exports earned Uganda $496.15m compared to $415.13m in the same period last year.
During the period, export volumes grew to more than 5.1 million bags compared to more than 4.16 million bags in the same period last year.
In June, Uganda exported a total of 420,373 60-kilogramme bags of coffee valued at $39.99m.
UCDA also indicates that Kyagalanyi Coffee topped the list of exporters, contributing 18.54 per cent of the export volume in the June.
The company, which has for long been one of Uganda’s largest coffee exporters, exported 77,930 60 kilogramme bags, of which 37,370 bags were of Robusta and 40,560 bags Arabica.
Olam Uganda, which came in second, contributed 11.43 per cent of the total export volume, which represented a total of 48,041 bags.
Out of this, 36,908 bags were of Robusta while 11,133 bags were Arabica.
Ideal Quality Commodities, which exported a total of 45,590 bags, contributed 10.85 per cent of the export volumes while Ugacof contributed 9.52 per cent of the volumes with 40,005 bags.
Unlike, Ethiopia, which consumes much of its coffee, Uganda exports much of its coffee to Europe and parts of Africa.
In June Italy took much of Uganda’s coffee. At least 130,653 bags were exported to the country while 96,250 2 bags were exported to Sudan. At least 47,476 were exported to Germany.
In the period, Kawacom, contributed 6.91 per cent of the total export volume, representing about 29,041 bags.
Louis Dreyfus Company, contributed 5.32 per cent (22,362 bags), while Ibero contributed 5.39 per cent (22,672 bags).
Other larger exporters in the period included Touton Uganda, which contributed 4.88 per cent (20,525 bags) and Kampala Domestic Store, which contributed 4.04 per cent (16,996 bags) of the export volume.
Besmark Coffee Company rounded off the top 10 coffee exporters, contributing 4.02 per cent (16,885 bags) of the total export volume.
Top Uganda coffee buyers
During June, Olam International bought more coffee exports from Uganda than any other company.
At least 13.36 per cent, which represents 56,153 bags was bought by Olam International. Altas Heel Import & Export bought 11.16 per cent (46,900) of Uganda’s coffee while Volcafe bought 9.37 per cent or 39,385 bags.
Other buyers included Sucafina, which bought 8.86 per cent (37,257 bags) and Bernhard Rothfos, which bought at least 5.39 per cent of the exported volumes.
Ecom Agro-industrial bought 5.27 per cent or 22,152 bags while Cofftea, AldwamiCo, Bercher Coffee Consulting bought 4.58 per cent (19,250 bags), 3.74 per cent (15,720 bags) and 2.99 per cent (12,557 bags) of Uganda’s coffee, respectively.
Coex Coffee International bought 2.36 per cent or 9,926 bags.
