São Paulo – Brazilian coffee exports have decreased in the beginning of this year. According to figures issued this Wednesday (4th) by the Brazilian Coffee Exporter Council (Cecafé), a total of 2.19 million 60-kilogram bags were shipped in March, almost 20% less than in the same month of 2011. Export revenues stood at US$ 550 million, 16.3% less than in the same period of last year.
In the first quarter, exports reached US$ 1.71 billion, a decline of 8.6% compared with the same period of last year. A total of 6.54 million bags were exported, 20.7% less using the same basis of comparison.
According to the Cecafé, the decline resulted from the fact that the 2011-2012 crop (July of last year to June this year) is at its end, and was smaller than the preceding one. Coffee is a biannual plant, meaning that a larger harvest is followed by a smaller one.
However, the president of Cecafé, Guilherme Braga, claimed in a press statement that there was an increase in exports of “differentiated Arabica coffees,” i.e. higher quality varieties. In the first three months of 2012, 1.753 million bags of these varieties were shipped overseas, representing an increase of 32.3% over the same period of 2011. The price of one bag of coffee averaged at US$ 315.66, as against US$ 261.54 for coffee in general.
“{This] represents 32.3% of total revenues from coffee exports. The rate, which may be even higher, coupled with price stability, will impact positively in annual revenues, in addition to entailing an increase in grower income,” said Braga, according to the statement.
In the first quarter, 274,500 bags were exported to Arab countries, a 22% decline over the first quarter of 2011. Revenues, in turn, dropped by 5.6% and stood at US$ 55.6 million.
The main target countries for Brazilian coffee from January to March 2012 were Germany, the United States, Italy, Belgium and Japan.
Crop year
Thus far, in the nine months of the 2011-2012 crop year, from July last year to March this year, export revenues rose by 21.5%, compared with the preceding period, and reached US$ 6.44 billion.
The volume shipped, however, dropped by 12%, down to 23.7 million bags. The average price of one bag increased from US$ 197.20 to US$ 271.92 from one crop to the other.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
