Indonesia coffee output to fall 30 pct in 2011 - association

JAKARTA, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Indonesian coffee bean production in 2011 will fall by 30 percent from an estimated 600,000 tonnes in 2010, as rains in key producing areas damage cherries, an industry association official forecast on Thursday.
Lower output from Indonesia, the world's second largest robusta producer, will support global robusta prices that climbed to a 2-1/2 year high this week following tight supplies and strong price gains for arabica coffee.
"Rains in southern Sumatra have caused coffee flowers and young cherries to rot and fall from trees. Production will be lower this year," Rachim Kartabrata, executive director of the Indonesian Coffee Exporter Association, told Reuters.
The London-based International Coffee Organization forecast earlier this month that the 2010/2011 crop in Indonesia, the world's third-largest producer after Brazil and Vietnam, said output would fall 16.5 percent this year to 9.5 million bags, unchanged from their previous forecast in January.[ID:nHAN187315]
Arabica prices eased on Wednesday, after trading at the highest level in at least 30 years the previous day as a shortage of high quality beans struggles to keep pace with demand. [SOF/L]
Indonesia's main harvest in southern Sumatra may not peak until May-June because of the extreme weather, said Azis Chan Satib, spokesman of the association's Lampung branch.
"The weather has been unpredictable. Cherries are not ripening properly because of extreme changes between rains and hot weather," said Satib.
Robusta coffee bean output from southern Sumatra island is expected to fall by 30 percent this year, compared to 420,000 tonnes in 2010, he said.
Robusta -- used in instant coffee -- mostly grows in Lampung, Bengkulu, and South Sumatra provinces on Sumatra island accounts for about 85 percent of Indonesia's coffee production. The rest is higher value aromatic arabica coffee.
Source: (Additional reporting by Mas Alina Arifin in Bandar Lampung; Editing by Neil Chatterjee) ((Fitri.Wulandari@thomsonreuters.com)(+62213846364)(Reuters Messaging: fitri.wulandari.reuters.com@reuters.net))