September 24, 2025
Tewodros Yilma of exporter Yalam Global discusses the Red Sea crisis, an African free trade alliance, and how to protect profit in a year of abundant global supply.
Ethiopia’s red bean exports are rising sharply in 2025, with strong demand across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe driving promising earnings for producers and traders.
“This year has required us to be agile. Demand for Ethiopian pulses has been steady, but highly price-sensitive. Buyers are comparing our beans with an abundant global white bean supply from Argentina, Egypt, and the US, which means we're focused on three areas: quality – ensuring canning grade standard across our lots; logistics – pre-booking space and hedging against disruptions; and customer balance – diversifying between Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East.
The main issue this year wasn't agronomy, but logistics – shortages of bags, delays on inland transport and vessel scheduling from Djibouti. Despite long transit times and higher freight costs, we managed to keep our service running smoothly.”
READ THE FULL ARTICLELogistics remain a key challenge for the country’s pulse exports, with freight costs and Red Sea disruptions shaping delivery strategies across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
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