Brasília – Coffee production in Brazil should amount to 50.48 million bags in 2012, up 16.1% from the preceding crop (43.48 million bags). According to the National Supply Company (Conab), the good performance should result in a record-high crop and is owed to investments made by the growers and to the fact that 2012 is the best of the two years in the biennium, in terms of soil quality.
Each bag is equivalent to 60 kilograms of the product. More than half the output is expected to be shipped abroad. “From 28 to 29 million bags should be exported,” said the secretary for Production and Agroenergy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Gerardo Fontelles. According to him, initially, the growers are holding on to the higher quality coffee, “waiting for the best pricing.”
If crop output expectations prove true, then Brazil should set a new record in coffee exceeding the 48.48 million-tonne crop of 2002-2003. Compared with the crop of the high-output year in the last biennium (2010), the output will be 4.96% higher.
Production of Arabica-type coffee is estimated at 37.95 million bags, equivalent to 75.2% of total production. Coffee of the Conilon (or Robusta) is expected to amount to 12.54 million bags – near 25% of the total national output.
According to the Conab, the planted area stands at 2.34 million hectares, up 2.7% compared with the 2.27 million hectare area of the 2011 crop.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
