SAO PAULO – The harvesting of the 2023/24 crop of coffee is still in progress in the major producing regions in Brazil, however, activities are still behind that in the same period last year, reports Cepea in its latest update. According to the agents consulted by Cepea, the quality of the beans already harvested is high. As for the volume produced, agents expect the harvest to recover after the crop failure from 2022/23.
According to Cepea collaborators, by June 9th, 22% of the output expected in EspÃrito Santo had been harvested; in Rondônia, 60% had been harvested. For arabica, 20% had been harvested in Garça (SP); in the region of Matas Mineiras, 17%; in the Mogiana (SP), from 13 to 15%; in northwestern Paraná and the Cerrado Mineiro, 12%; and in southern Minas Gerais, 10%.
In a report released in the first fortnight of June, the USDA estimated the Brazilian coffee production in the 2023/24 season at 66.4 million bags, 3.3% higher than that last season. The arabica output is expected to recover (+12.3% compared to that last season), while the robusta output is forecast to decrease 4.8%. However, Conab (Brazil’s National Company for Food Supply) estimates the Brazilian output to be lower, at 54.7 million bags.
Agents consulted by Cepea believe that the Brazilian coffee output will total 60 million bags, an average of the estimates from the USDA and Conab.
The prices for arabica coffee fluctuated widely in the Brazilian market in the first half of June, while for robusta, quotations remained firm.
On June 15th, the CEPEA/ESALQ Index for arabica coffee type 6, delivered to São Paulo city, closed at BRL 966.28 (USD 201.14)/bag, 2.5% lower than that on May 31st.
As for robusta coffee, the CEPEA/ESALQ Index (EspÃrito Santo) for the robusta coffee type 6, screen 13, closed at BRL 725.29 (USD 150.98)/bag on June 15th, 3.52% higher than that on May 31st.