By William Davison Bloomberg October 26, 2012 Ethiopian exports dropped 7 percent to $699.1 million in the first quarter as shipments of coffee and oil seeds fell, the Trade Ministry said. Foreign sales of coffee in the continent’s largest producer of the beans earned $199.3 million in the four months through Oct. 10, compared with $201.9 million in the same period a year earlier, the Addis Ababa-based ministry said in an e-mailed statement on Oct. 24. Ethiopia’s calendar has 13 months, one of which runs from Sept. 6 to Sept. 10. The second-most valuable export in the quarter was gold, which increased 2 percent to $132.7 million, the ministry said. The stimulant qhat raised $69.5 million in foreign exchange, an increase of 1 percent, it said. Ethiopia posted a trade deficit of $7.5 billion in the fiscal year ended July 7 as a result of slowing growth in exports and increased import costs, according to Access Capital , an Addis Ababa-based research group. E...