The arrival of a cold front in Brazil's south-east coffee belt was bringing rain and cooler temperatures but no risk of damaging frost, independent weather service Somar said on Monday. Light rain fell on Parana and southern Sao Paulo states over the weekend as the cold front entered southern Brazil from Argentina.
By Tuesday the cold front will push into the forested region of Espirito Santo, the No 2 coffee state after Minas.
As skies clear, temperatures will fall, principally in Parana and Sao Paulo.
Lows dropped to 9 degrees in Parana and 10 in southern Sao Paulo on Sunday.
An estimated 57 percent of the crop had been picked by July 18, against 56 percent at the same time last year, private analyst Safras e Mercado said on Thursday.
Rains during the harvest period tend to deteriorate the quality of the coffee beans that are nearly mature or drying.
The government estimated the 2005/06 crop at 32.5 million 60-kg bags, 16 percent down on the 38.6 million bags produced in 2004/05. Private views range up to 38.5 million bags.
Comments
Comments are closed.