Brazil coffee exports up 5% year-on-year

Coffee exports from Brazil totaled 2.806 million bags of 60 kg in May 2022, a 5.1% rise over the 2.669 million sent abroad in the same month of 2021.

Shipments raised US$ 668.1 million in revenue, representing an 83.1% increase over the previous year. The information comes from the monthly statistical report of the Brazilian Council of Coffee Exporters (Cecafé).

Now, with the May number computed, it is possible to assess that the 2021/22 crop year yielded 36.288 million exported bags, a performance 14.8% lower than that registered between July 2020 and May 2021, when the country shipped 42,597 million bags. On the other hand, in terms of values, revenue increased by 35.5% in the same period, from US$ 5.420 billion to the current US$ 7.344 billion.

As for the performance of 2022 alone, shipments fell 7%, and foreign exchange revenue increased 63% compared to the first five months of last year. From January to May this year, Brazil traded 16.621 million bags with 112 countries, obtaining an inflow of US$ 3.867 billion.

See below the track record of coffee exports from Brazil from January 2021 to April 2022. The data below was extracted from the DataLiner platform.

Coffee exports from Brazil | Jan 2021 – April 2022 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

According to Günter Häusler, the president of Cecafé, the minor increase in volume exported in May allowed the country to moderately mitigate the losses in the 2021/22 season and the calendar year. “The little rise last month reflects a slight improvement in logistics, which allowed us to ship the coffee slated for May as well as part of the cargo that had been pent up in the ports,” he says.

However, he argues that the challenging position of exporters shall persist in the face of logistical obstacles created by congestion in key ports in Asia and North America, as well as the continuing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“Brazilian exporters continue to encounter problems obtaining containers and ship space, as well as high freight rates. The war’s continuation, which approaches 100 days, directly impacts our shipments, in addition to all of the human suffering witnessed. Russia, previously the sixth most important destination, fell to 13th place, with imports falling by 43%. Although having a lower volume of purchases, Ukraine has already experienced a 65% decline,” Häusler concludes.

Concerning the observed progression in foreign exchange revenue from coffee exports by Brazil, Cecafé’s president explains that it is a reflection of the product’s high level in prices, as well as the dollar’s appreciation over the real, which increases the inflow of resources into Brazil.

Most important destinations 

From January to May, the United States was the leading importer of Brazilian coffee. North Americans purchased 3.240 million bags, a 5% decrease from the 3.410 million purchased around the same period in 2021. Nevertheless, this amount accounts for 19.5% of Brazil’s total exports thus far.

Germany imported 3.113 million bags (-3.8%) and occupied second place in the ranking. Then, Belgium purchased 1.661 million bags (+29.6%), while Italy purchased 1.406 million bags (+7.2%), and Japan only 726,995 bags (-26.1%).

Coffee types

Arabica coffee was the most exported coffee bean, with 14.463 million bags shipped abroad until May, which corresponds to 87% of the total. Soluble coffee registered the shipment of the equivalent of 1.502 million bags, accounting for 9% of the total. Canephora coffee (robusta + conilon) corresponded for exports of 639,356 bags (3.9%), while roasted and ground bean corresponded to 16,878 bags (0.1%).

Ports

Santos maritime complex remained the largest coffee exporter in Brazil in 2022, with 13.809 million bags sent in May, accounting for 83.1%.

The ports of Rio de Janeiro, which account for 12.6% of shipments, send 2.091 million bags in the first five months of 2022, and Paranaguá (PR), with the shipment of 164 thousand bags overseas (1%) between January and May 2021, round out the top three.

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