Brazil’s largest coffee exporter expects record shipments in 2022

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s largest coffee exporter expects its arabica bean shipments to reach a record this year as logistical problems that hampered flows last year abate.

According to its president, Carlos Augusto Rodriguez de Melo, coffee cooperative Cooxupe expects its exports to rise 20% to 5.9 million bags in 2022. In 2021, exports remained stable at 4.9 million bags. Since the cooperative’s crop is likely to be close to the same level this year as in 2021, it plans to increase shipments using reserves and coffee purchased outside the organization.

“We had big problems last year, but we are starting 2022 in a much better position,” Melo said in a telephone interview on March 25.

Gradual economic reopenings during the Covid-19 pandemic and accelerated online shopping created a shortage of freight. That made shipping containers more expensive to move coffee, further boosting prices already high due to shortages in Brazil last year.

“The supply of containers has increased, and an older shipping mode has helped the cooperative increase exports since December, reducing its stockpiles,” he said. Cooxupe has so far exported 300,000 60-kilogram (132.37-pound) bags of coffee in break-bulk vessels, Melo said.

“Crops are in excellent shape for next year’s crop as recent rains have added to vegetative development,” he said. According to Melo, this year’s crop will see the biggest impact from the drought that affected fields last year. “Brazil’s production may be slightly higher than 2021,” he said.

With information from Bloomberg Línea