Brazil exports 3.6 million sacks of coffee in March, down 6%

According to the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council’s (Cecafé) monthly statistical report, coffee shipments totalled 3.622 million bags, with 60 kg each, in March, down 6% compared to the same month in 2021. Revenue, in turn, grew 69.3%in the same comparative period, with values reaching U$ 865.1 million.

The entity’s president, Nicolas Rueda, reveals that the result seen in March reflects the 64.6% drop in canephora coffee, totalling 123,437 bags. “With the high price levels of Arabica, both domestically and abroad, Brazilian industries have rearranged their blends and have been using more robusta) whose prices are lowe,” he explains.

Arabica coffee exports advanced almost 1% last month, to 3.142 million bags, despite being in the middle of the coffee off-season in Brazil, standing out as the best result in the previous five years.

“Given the limited availability of coffee, the slightest advancement witnessed is the consequence of the gradual improvement in the logistics environment, which has allowed shipments slated for the month to be added to the loads retained in prior months. However, it is critical to emphasize that the logistical situation is still far from normal, posing several hurdles for exporters,” he comments.

2021/22 Harvest

Computing last month’s performance, year-long shipments totalled 30.256 million bags, down 16.5% from the 36.227 million bags exported between July 2020 and March 2021. In revenue, there was an increase of 29 .5%, with the value jumping from US$ 4.555 billion to US$ 5.901 billion.

The president of Cecafé assessed that, despite the drop, the current performance is positive, especially considering the obstacles that Brazilian exporters continue to face.

“We are currently in the crop’s off-season and facing lower supplies in the cycle. The logistical bottlenecks continue, and, more recently, shipments have been impacted by the conflict with Ukraine. Even so, shipments in the 2021/22 season are identical to those recorded in the same nine months of the 2019/20 crop, the last low cycle within the biennial characteristic of the coffee belt in Brazil”, he argues.

Calendar Year

In the first quarter of 2022, exports reached 10.594 million bags, down 7.8% compared to the first three months of 2021. The foreign exchange revenue in the period makes up to US$ 2.424 billion, with a significant growth of 60.8% compared to the same interval, the highest value in the last five years.

Russia X Ukraine

The protracted war in Ukraine is already affecting Brazilian coffee shipments. Total sales to Russia, for example, fell by 19% in March. “Even though it is unthinkable to experience a war and all of its tragic human factor in the twenty-first century, this scenario reflects the impossibility of sending containers and vessels to these destinations, with the stoppage of work of maritime agencies in Russia and the collapse in Ukraine, in addition to the withdrawal of Russian financial institutions from the Swift financial system, which makes business with local partners difficult,” concludes Cecaf’s president.

Top destinations

The United States remained the main importer of Brazilian coffee in the first quarter of this year. The North Americans purchased 2.103 million bags, a volume 3.3% lower than the 2.176 million bags acquired in the same period in 2021. This volume represents 19.8% of total exports from Brazil so far.

Germany, representing 17.8%, imported 1.885 million bags (-8.7%) and occupied second place in the ranking. In third, Belgium purchased 1.119 million bags (+29.7%); Italy, 910,727 bags (+0.9%); and Japan, 481,498 bags (-22.4%).

The impact of the war on exports to Russian is attention-grabbing. The country descended from eight to sixth among global to importers in the quarter. The russians acquired268,754 bags from January to the end of March, a volume that represents a drop of 19.3% compared to the same period in 2021.

Source: Cecafé

Coffee types

Arabica coffee was the most exported between January and March 2022, with 9.254 million bags shipped abroad, which corresponds to 87.3% of the total. Soluble coffee had the equivalent of 970,352 bags shipped, accounting for 9.2% of the total. Then come the canéfora variety (robusta + conilon), with exports of 358,848 bags (3.4%), and roasted and grounded product, with 10,511 bags (0.1%).

Special coffees

Coffees that have superior quality or some type of certificate of sustainable practices accounted for 15.2% of total Brazilian exports of the product in the first quarter of 2022, with the shipment of 1.611 million bags abroad. This volume represents a decline of 1.9% in comparison with the 1.643 million bags shipped by the country in the same period of the previous year.

Ports

The maritime complex of Santos (SP) remains the main exporter of coffee in Brazil in 2022, with the shipment of 8.829 million bags, which corresponds to 83.3% of the total. Closing the list of the three largest coffee-exporting ports are the ports of Rio de Janeiro, which accounted for 12.4% of shipments, sending 1.310 million bags in the first quarter, and Paranaguá (PR), with the shipment of 137,440 bags abroad (1.3%).

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