Green coffee exports from the world's largest producer fell 8.5% in August to 2.89 million 60-kg bags, exporters association Cecafé said in a report on Tuesday.
Cecafé reported exports of arabica coffee at 2.43 million bags, 7.3% below volumes seen in August last year, while shipments of robusta coffee fell 14.4% to 461,683 bags. Exports of both types of coffee have also fallen when compared to July (see table below).
The coffee group did not provide an explanation for the smaller volumes, but Brazil this year is in the off-year in the biennial production cycle that alternates years of higher and lower production.
The country has practically finished harvesting its coffee crop in 2019 with a smaller production seen by the government at 50.9 million bags after a record crop last year of 61.66 million bags.
Exports had been large all along since last year's bumper crop. Cecafé said cumulative volumes in 2019 increased 33 percent, considering only green coffee shipments, when compared to the same Jan-Aug period last year.
The average price per bag, however, is 17.9 percent lower than seen in 2018.
The United States remains the largest buyer so far this year, taking up 19% of the total volume, with Germany in second place with 16.3% and Italy in third with 9.1%. The US bought 42 percent more coffee from Brazil
this year versus 2018.

Copyright Reuters, 2019

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