São Paulo – Brazilian coffee growers should harvest 49.15 million tonnes this year, down 3.3% from last year. According to the fourth crop forecast, released this Friday (20th) by the National Supply Company (Conab), the crop of coffee of the Robusta variety, which accounts for 22.1% of total production in Brazil, will see the sharpest decline: as per the estimates, 8.2 million 60-kilogram bags will be harvested, down 12.95% from 2012.
The bulk of coffee grown in Brazil is of the Arabica variety, which accounts for 77.9% of the total harvest this year. The volume is down 0.15% from 2012, according to Conab figures, to 38.29 million bags. The Conab has ascribed the decline in output in 2013 to irregular rainfall in producing regions, frost in the state of Paraná, and to the fact that this has been a low output year in the coffee production cycle.
The coffee cycle, however, should be less of an influence on crop yields in coming years because, according to the Conab, increased mechanization, productivity, and technological innovations are employed to balance out production at coffee plantations and prevent sharp declines in output in low-yield years. As per the estimates, the total planted area for coffee in Brazil has been 2,311,599 hectares this year, down 0.76% from 2012. Of the total area, 53.29% is in the state of Minas Gerais.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
