Only three major buyers increased Brazilian coffee imports in 2025, Cecafé says

Among Brazil’s ten largest coffee buyers, only three increased purchases over the past 12 months compared with 2024, according to data from the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council (Cecafé).

Japan, Turkey and China bucked the broader trend and expanded imports of Brazilian coffee in a year marked by adverse weather conditions that hurt production and by higher U.S. tariffs on Brazilian products.

Between January and December 2025, Brazil exported 40.049 million 60-kg bags of coffee, across all product types, to 121 countries. The volume represents a 20.8% decline from 2024, despite record export revenue driven by higher international coffee prices.

In the U.S. market, Brazilian coffee exports fell 33.9% in 2025 following the imposition of higher tariffs, which remain in place for soluble coffee.

On a year-to-date basis, Brazil shipped just 13,738 TEUs of green coffee beans to the United States, according to data from DataLiner, one of South America’s leading foreign trade intelligence platforms. See below the month-by-month decline in exports, based on DataLiner figures.

Coffee bean exports to the U.S. | Jan 2022 – Nov 2025 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

As a result, the United States lost its position as the largest buyer of Brazilian coffee. Germany moved into first place, even though its imports also declined. Shipments to the European country fell 28.7% last year.

Outliers

The performance of Japan, Turkey and China stood apart from the broader downturn.

Japan ranked as the fourth-largest buyer of Brazilian coffee in 2025, with imports exceeding 2.6 million bags, up 19.4% from the previous year.

According to Cecafé president Márcio Ferreira, the increase reflects a rebuilding of inventories by Japanese importers. He said Japan had reduced purchases earlier after accumulating large stocks, but resumed buying as inventories were drawn down.

Turkey, the sixth-largest importer of Brazilian coffee, increased purchases by 3.26% in 2025. Cecafé said the country bought more coffee both to supply its domestic market and to re-export to other countries in the region.

Ferreira noted that Turkey exports coffee to several countries facing instability and conflict.

China’s consumption surge

China, traditionally known as a tea-drinking nation, continues to emerge as a fast-growing coffee market. The country is currently the world’s sixth-largest coffee consumer, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, behind only the European Union, the United States, Brazil, the Philippines and Japan.

In 2025, China imported 19.49% more Brazilian coffee than a year earlier, totaling 1.1 million 60-kg bags. With that volume, the country ranked tenth among Brazil’s largest coffee importers.

“The country is on a clear upward trend. Young Chinese consumers are drinking more and more coffee,” Ferreira said. “What we see today is still far below what consumption could look like over the next five to ten years.”

Source: G1, adapted by DatamarNews

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