Coonoor, India, Sept 15 - India's coffee output in 2009/10 is expected to rise 14 percent to 300,000 tonnes, two-thirds of which will be shipped to traditional buyers such as Italy and Russia, government officials said on Tuesday.
The optimistic forecasts follows concerns of traders that heavy rains in some coffee-producing regions would hit output in Asia's third-biggest exporter.
Although Indian monsoon rains have been a fifth short of normal this year, rainfall has been very uneven, with many regions hit by drought while others saw excessive rains.
"There may be an impression that rains would have damaged some of the crops but that is not the case. I believe output will be between 298,000-300,000 tonnes," an official, who did not wish to be named, told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference.
Of that, about 90,000 tonnes would be consumed within India while the rest would be exported, the official said.
Recent rains were unlikely to impact the yield, said another official, who also did not want to be identified as the government-run Coffee Board was soon expected to formally announce its output estimate.
More than 70 percent of India's coffee output comes from the southern state of Karnataka, where monsoon rains have been 20 percent or more above average in many regions.
In 2000/01, output from the state helped India produce a record 301,200 tonnes of coffee.
EXPORTS
The country's coffee exports fell 10.2 percent to 196,531 tonnes in 2008/09 against 218,996 tonnes a in the previous year due to poor overseas demand.
Italy accounted for a quarter of India's coffee exports, while Russia bought 8.2 percent and Germany took 7.5 percent of India's exports.
Earlier this month, a Coffee Board official had said India's coffee exports fell 19 percent in the first eight months of 2009 as firm domestic prices capped buying interest from overseas.
The first official said the outlook for exports next year was better due to good demand from its traditional buyers.