By
William Davison
Bloomberg BusinessWeek
July
26, 2013
The value of exports from Ethiopia,
Africa’s biggest grower of coffee, fell 2 percent in 2012-13 from a year
earlier as a result of declining prices for the beans even as volumes increased,
the Trade Ministry said.
Ethiopia’s exports declined to $3.08
billion in the 12 months through July 7 from $3.15 billion a year earlier, the
Addis Ababa-based ministry said in an e-mailed statement.
The Horn of African nation’s $43
billion economy is forecast to expand 6.5 percent this year, faster than the
average of 5.6 percent for sub-Saharan Africa, according to the International
Monetary Fund.
Revenue from coffee exports declined
to $746.4 million in 2012-13 from $832.9 million, while volumes jumped 18
percent to 199,104 metric tons, the ministry said. Arabica coffee prices
dropped 31 percent in the period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The
price rose 2.9 percent to $1.2480 per pound by the close in New York yesterday.
Gold, the country’s second-biggest
source of export revenues, fetched $578.8 million, falling 4 percent from a
year earlier. Earnings from other minerals, excluding tantalum, jumped 48
percent to $12.4 million, while sales abroad of khat, a leafy plant that is
used as a mild stimulant, raised $271.5 million, an increase of 13 percent, the
ministry said.
Ethiopian exports have a limited
impact on the overall economy, which is mainly spurred by public investment and
private consumption, Lars Christian Moller, the World Bank’s lead economist in
the country, said by phone today from Addis Ababa, the capital.
“The ambition is to have
export-driven growth but Ethiopia needs to make further progress on improving
competitiveness to realize this,” Moller said.
Shipments of leather products
increased 10 percent to $121.9 million in the period as textiles rose 16
percent to $97.9 million, the ministry said. Deliveries of oil seeds fell 6
percent to $440.9 million, while exports of pulses surged 46 percent to $233.3
million, the ministry said.
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To contact the reporter on this story: William Davison in
Addis Ababa at wdavison3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nasreen
Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net