Coffee exporters rescue an old transportation method due to the lack of containers

Shipping coffee abroad has become so difficult due to a lack of containers that some exporters are bringing back a decades-old mode of transportation.

Five breakbulk vessels transporting coffee beans packed in gigantic 1,000-kilogram bags have left Brazilian ports since November, corresponding to about 4% of the country’s total coffee exports. However, such large bags are usually challenging to handle, so this method has not been used for over 20 years. Now, this method is making a comeback as one of the few alternatives left to standard containers in short supply.

“Several exporters have inquired about this mode of shipment, which we see as an alternative to the global logistical challenges expected to persist in 2022,” said Marcos Matos, CEO of Cecafé. “We have not seen any quality loss in these shipments.”

Cecafé estimates that breakbulk vessels transported the equivalent of 500,000 to 600,000 standard 60-kilogram bags of coffee in the last four months. Following its first container-free experiment weeks earlier, Cooxupe, the world’s largest Arabica coffee cooperative, announced in December that it planned to carry out two such shipments.

Source: Money Times

To read the full original article, please go to:

https://www.moneytimes.com.br/cafe-por-falta-de-conteiner-exportadores-resgatam-metodo-de-transporte-antigo/

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