Coffee production ‘will’ decline in the Highlands
BY ZACHERY PER
THE Coffee Industry is expected to see a decline in this year’s annual coffee production following the Okuk Highway cut last month.
Deputy chairman of PNG Block Holders Coffee Growers Association (PNGBCGA) Mr Kollen Upa made this known yesterday, saying coffee from the western half of Simbu, Western Highlands, Enga and Southern Highlands provinces bound for overseas exports have missed shipping deadlines.
He said the quality of these coffee beans would be affected and will not be in the best interest of importers to accept these bags.
Mr Upa said coffee flows from the exporters to importers at prescribed time frame to maintain quality, the longer they are left stranded the quality would drop.
“The industry is expecting a drop in overall export figure for this year, should there be any similar disaster again affecting the coffee trade, the overall production would be in total chaos,” Mr Upa said.
He supported a statement from chairman of the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) Pugma Kopi that the coffee industry is under imminent threat with the unpredictable landslides along the Okuk Highway.
Mr Kopi this week said the industry that earns the country K400 million annually is facing imminent collapse due to the deteriorating status of the highway.
He said 90% of PNGs coffee is heavily dependent on the highway for transportation and the Okuk Highway was a serious threat and no longer a life line.
“When the highway collapses, it affects the industry greatly from growers to exporters.
Mr Kopi said for the coffee industry, a four to eight week shutdown in operations was a long time with cost running into millions of kina.
He said for the industry’s health and well being, growers, processors and exporters must move their coffee daily to markets and bring in new money that will be injected into the industry.
CIC noted in a month’s closure of the Okuk Highway, millions of kina in export earnings were lost because a lot of coffee was not moved to international buyers bringing a serious shortage of cash in the industry.
“We have to export the coffee to bring in more money. If no money comes in then exporters, processors and buyers won’t have the cash to buy more coffee from the growers,” Mr Kopi said.
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