SAO PAULO: Brazil exported 2.11 million 60-kg bags of green coffee in August, 21.4 percent less than in the same month a year earlier, exporters association Cecafé said on Monday. Despite the fall from last year, Cecafé said volumes are showing signs of recovery after poor monthly numbers. August shipments were around 500,000 bags above July, it said. Brazil has essentially finished the harvest of a smaller coffee crop this year, due mainly to the off year in the biennial coffee production cycle. But producers have been slow to sell the crop waiting for better prices. “August brings a better outlook for exports, although weak. In September we should again see higher volumes, around 20 percent higher than the previous month,” Cecafé head Nelson Carvalhaes said in a statement.
Brazil’s cumulative exports in 2017 are still 9.2 percent below the same period a year earlier, the association said. Exports of robusta coffee remained marginal despite a much better crop this year. The country shipped only 27,347 bags in August, 31 percent less than last year. Arabica shipments reached 2.092 million bags in August, 21.2 percent below the same month a year earlier. The United States bought most of the Brazilian exports this year, receiving 19.8 percent of the shipments. Germany was second with 17.1 percent.
