BRASÍLIA: Brazilian coffee production will soar by 13% this year, but remain short of all-time highs, with a drop in the drought-hit robusta crop offsetting a rise in arabica output to a record top. In its first estimate for the 2016-17 crop, the US Department of Agriculture’s Brasilia bureau pegged it at 55.95m bags.
That would represent an increase of more than 6.5m bags year on year, but fall short of the record 57.6m-bag harvest reaped four years ago. This increase is forecast being led by arabica beans, for which the bureau forecast output soaring from 36.10m bags last year to 43.85m bags – eclipsing the highs of 42.1m bags set in 2012.
Arabica yields are expected to increase due to “good blossoming between September and November 2015 in all producing regions and overall good weather conditions during fruit setting and development”, the bureau said in a report. Indeed, there is potential for further upgrades yet to the arabica top, “due to expected above-average de-husking yields and quality of the beans” expected to emerge as harvest progresses, with beans expected to be of larger average size.
