Peru, the world's No 7 coffee producer, should produce a record 4.7 million 100-pound (46-kg) bags in 2006 as good weather, higher prices and fewer pests lift output, an influential growers group said on Thursday.

Peru produced 3.4 million bags of coffee in the 2005 season, which runs from April to September, down from 4.25 million bags in 2004, Lorenzo Castillo, executive secretary of the National Coffee Board, told Reuters.

The board, which represents Peru's 150,000 coffee farmers, forecasts bean exports of 4.2 million bags in 2006, worth around $380 million, Castillo added.

Copyright Reuters, 2005