Brasília – The 2012 coffee crop in Brazil should reach 50.45 million 60-kilogram bags, according to a National Food Supply Company (Conab) survey issued this Thursday (10th). The result is 16% higher than the previous crop’s (43.48 million bags) and exceeds the record set in the 2002-2003 crop, when the output was 48.48 million bags.
According to the Conab, the increased output is mostly due to the biennial character of coffee, whose production alternates between a strong year and a lower output year, and to investment made by growers. The current crop should be 4.09% larger than in 2009, the last high output year.
Coffee of the Arabica variety is expected to account for 75.6% of total production, at 38.13 million bags. Minas Gerais should be the leading producing state, at 26.34 million bags. The state of Espírito Santo is the leading producer of the Conilon variety, and should account for 9.36 million out of a total of 12.31 million bags to be harvested nationwide.
The planted area for coffee increased by 3%, from 2.278 million hectares in 2011 to 2.346 million hectares, a 68,000-hectare increase. Coffee plantations cover 1.219 million hectares in Minas Gerais and 492,000 hectares in Espírito Santo. The survey was conducted from April 15th to 28th by means of visits of Conab technicians to the producing states.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
