Colombia's coffee output fell 18% in May to 673,000 bags from 822,000 bags in that month a year ago, Colombia's National Federation of Coffee Growers, or Fedecafe, said Thursday. Despite the drop in output, coffee exports from Colombia last month climbed 12% to 645,000 bags from 576,000 bags in that month a year ago.
For the year through May, coffee output is up 12% compared to the first five months of 2010, at 3.6 million bags, Fedecafe said. Fedecafe's export figures include green, soluble, roasted and other coffee types.
Fedecafe has said that it expects output for this year to reach between 9 million and 9.5 million bags. In 2010, Colombia produced 8.9 million bags, a 14% increase from the previous year but short of its 9 million-bag output target.
The lower output figure in May could be partially due to devastating rains that wiped out huge swathes of agriculture throughout Colombia. The downpours were blamed on the La Nina weather pattern, which was expected to exit Colombia this month.