GAEKI

JAKARTA, July 31 | Wed Jul 31, 2013 6:21am EDT (Reuters) –

Indonesia’s output of coffee beans in 2013 is expected to fall between a fifth and a quarter from last year, an industry official said on Wednesday, as wet weather hampers the harvest in the world’s second-largest grower of robusta. The Southeast Asian nation produced around 700,000 tonnes of coffee last year, said Moenardji Soedargo, chief operating officer at PT Aneka Coffee Industry, and an adviser to the Indonesia Coffee Exporters Association (GAEKI). “There has been too much rain this year, which is causing coffee fruits to fall from their trees and die,” Soedargo told Reuters. “Even coffee flowers died and fell.” GAEKI, established in late 2011, has around 40 members, including the country’s top two exporters. Late last year, the Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters and Industries (AEKI) forecast 2013 production would be flat at around 650,000 to 700,000 tonnes. About 95 percent of coffee production in Indonesia comes from farmers on smallholdings, covering around 1.3 million hectares. The province of Sumatra contributes the lion’s share of overall output, with Indonesia’s main coffee harvest running from March until August, besides a smaller crop between September and January. (Reporting by Yayat Supriatna and Michael Taylor; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/31/indonesia-coffee-output-idUSL4N0G12W520130731?irpc=932 http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSL4N0G12W520130731?irpc=932