São Paulo – Those who export Brazilian coffee have reasons to smile in 2011. Foreign sales are going strong and should remain that way during the next few months. Although the leading importing countries of the product are amidst a crisis, the outlook for the industry is positive. The main reasons, according to the Brazilian Coffee Exporter Council (Cecafé, in the Portuguese acronym), are high worldwide demand and crop failure in other top producing countries, such as Colombia and Central American nations. The commodity’s prices are also helping.
According to the manager for technology at Cecafé, Eduardo Heron, global demand grows at around 1.5% per year. “The world’s leading importers have found out that Brazil is a trustworthy partner,” says Heron.
The price of coffee traded on the New York Stock Exchange is high this year. The 60-kilogram bag averaged at US$ 176.56 in June. In the same period of last year, the bag sold for US$ 126.91. One bag of fine coffee, which is of higher quality and contains less impurities, will sell for up to US$ 260.
High prices and strong exports drive the industry to forecast growth in revenues. According to Heron, revenues from exports this year should reach US$ 8.4 billion, and the total number of bags exported should range from 32 million to 33 million bags. Not even the crisis that plagues European countries, Japan and the United States has damaged sales. “International consumers have stopped drinking coffee at coffeehouses, but now they buy it at the supermarket. They keep drinking it,” claims Heron.
The leading importers of Brazilian coffee are the United States, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Japan. Among the Arab countries, the top buyer of the product from January to June this year was Syria, followed by Lebanon. These two countries combined account for 58% of all the coffee purchased by the Arabs. Although the Middle East and North Africa are not the leading importers, sales are growing slowly.
From January to June 2008, the Arab countries bought 397,136 bags of coffee from Brazil. In 2009 the total purchased grew by over 60% and reached 657,454 bags. Sales dropped to 552,361 bags in 2010 and then climbed again in the first half this year, to 579,855 bags. According to Eduardo, the years in which sales were the lowest were those in which Brazilian coffee production is lower, due to the biennial character of the culture. Crops vary from year to year due to the plant cycle. “Exports to the Arab countries grow according to our supply of coffee,” says Heron.
Even though this is a good moment for exporters, it is still early to tell whether sales will remain at the same level or grow in 2012. The weak dollar and the strong real (Brazilian currency) threaten sales. “Exporting with the depreciated dollar is near unfeasible,” says Heron.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
