SAO PAULO: Brazil exported 2.15 million 60-kg bags of green coffee in April, down 22 percent from a revised 2.76 million bags shipped in March, as drought-hit stocks dwindled heading into harvest, coffee export association Cecafe said on Wednesday. Arabica beans accounted for 2.09 million 60-kg bags of last month’s exports, down 23 percent from March, while robusta beans accounted for 59,214 bags, up 0.5 percent from the month prior.
Nelson Carvalhaes, president of Cecafe, said exports were expected to fall as the end of the 2015/16 season draws near on June 30. Two consecutive years of drought have whittled down stocks of the commodity to record lows, he said.
“(The drop in exports) is seen as something temporary and expectations are for the market to continue to grow in the coming months with the opening of the new crop,” Carvalhaes said. Brazil’s coffee belt has begun early harvesting, which is due to peak in June and July. The crop is expected to reach near-record territory, somewhere between 54 million and 60 million bags by most market forecasts.
