[CBC뉴스] 지난 1일 콜롬비아 커피 연맹의 로베르토 벨레스 부장은 온라인 기자회견에서 “세계 최고의 아라비카 커피 생산국인 콜롬비아는 국제가격의 좋은 실적을 활용해 2021년 생산과 수출 수준을 유지할 계획이지만 수확량이나 재배면적을 늘릴 계획은 없다”고 말했다.
남미 국가는 3월과 8월 사이에 5개월 이상 의무적으로 격리되어야 했던 COVID-19 전염병의 큰 영향 없이 약 1,400만 포대를 생산해 1,250만 개에서 1,300만 포대의 수출을 완료했다.
Colombia, the world's leading producer of washed Arabica coffee, will seek to maintain its production and export levels in 2021 by taking advantage of the good performance of international prices, but does not plan to increase its harvest or the area planted, an influential coffee leader said Tuesday (December 1).
The South American country will end this year with a production of about 14 million bags and exports of between 12.5 million and 13 million bags, without major effects by the COVID-19 pandemic that forced an obligatory isolation of more than five months, between March and August.
"We have a young, quiet coffee industry installed to produce between 14 and 14.5 million bags. We will produce a little more or a little less depending on variables such as climate, fertilization," said manager of the National Coffee Federation, Roberto Velez, in a virtual press conference.
Velez said that the goal for next year is to raise productivity to 22 sacks per hectare from the current 19.5.
Colombia closed 2019 with a production of 14.8 million bags, the best in the last 27 years, due to increased productivity and good weather.
Velez added that Colombian coffee has benefited from a demanding market that recognizes its quality and that during 2020 has paid a premium of 50 cents above the reference price of the New York Stock Exchange, which allowed producers to pay debts and recover profitability.
The South American country - the third largest coffee producer in the world after Brazil and Vietnam - has 880,000 hectares of coffee plantations and some 560,000 families depend on this activity.
Colombia, known for its high quality and mild coffees, expects its harvest to close at around 9 billion pesos (US$2,505 million), the highest in the country's history.
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