China expects coffee import from Ethiopia to grow further after increasing demand propels the East Asian nation to rank among the top ten destinations for Ethiopian coffee export.
Diversification of markets for coffee export, particularly in new rising Asian markets, was among the major factors that helps the Coffee export bring in a record annual revenue in the 2021/22 fiscal year, according to the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority.
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Ethiopia exported 5,879.34 tons of coffee to China in the first ten months of 2021/22FY alone, earning 30.4 million US dollars, up by 31% from the same period last year.
The increase has made China, which ranked 33rd in the previous fiscal year, the eighth major importer of Ethiopian coffee.
“China was one main destination for Ethiopian Coffee,” wrote Wu Peng, Director-General of the African Affairs Department at the Chinese Foreign Ministry, on Twitter late last week. China’s coffee imports from Ethiopia grew by 196% in 2021, he added.
China expects the import to increase further as more Chinese grow fond of Ethiopian coffee and the East African nation expects to bolster production.
Director-General Peng said he was “glad to know that Ethiopia’s coffee production is expected to flourish with highs of 4 folds in the coming harvest season.”
He said Ethiopian coffee was also “highly appreciated by Chinese people.”
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Ethiopia, which is known as the origin of Arabica coffee, is recognized worldwide for its rich coffee quality and variety of flavors, making the demand for the commodity increase globally.
Ethiopia obtained a record-hit 1.4 billion USD from coffee export in 2021/22FY. The top five coffee export destinations were Germany, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Belgium, and Japan.
