Colombia predicts 11.5% boost in coffee output for 2015

Colombia could produce between 12.5 million and 13 million 60kg sacks of coffee in 2015, marking a roughly 400,000 sack increase from 2014.

The predicted uptick would be an 11.5% increase year on year, according to the head of the National Coffee Growers of Colombia, Luis Genaro Munoz.

Munoz said the increase was a result of better weather, new plantations and increased productivity.

Colombia, the world's largest coffee producer of washed Arabica coffee, had a harvest of 12.1 million sacks in 2014.

From 2009 to 2012 the South American country missed its production goals, in part due to heavy rain, as well as maintenance projects at some coffee plantations.

Munoz added that the coffee-producing sector was in the midst of a strong moment right now thanks to the high prices of beans on the international market, the depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar, and an increase in coffee consumption on a global level.

He also said a smaller harvest in Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, as well as in Mexico, Central America, Ecuador and Peru have combined to benefit Colombian exports in the market.

The head of the Coffee Federation also said producers are better prepared for the possible formation of the El Nino weather phenomenon that could spur a drought in some coffee producing regions.

He said the country and its producers have prepared themselves for climate changes by protecting coffee plantations with the shade of trees.

Munoz said Colombia has the capacity to produce up to 14 million sacks of coffee a year without adding additional cultivation, but said they would only pursue higher output if the market called for it.