NEW YORK: Coffee growers in top producer Brazil sold 78% of the 2020 crop so far, a bit ahead of the 77% seen at this time last year and also ahead of a 5-year average of 74% for the period, consultancy Safras & Mercado said in a report on Thursday.

Safras' coffee analyst Gil Barabach said, however, that sales have progressed slowly during the last month, advancing only 4 percentage points in the period, as most growers seem to be holding back deals, particularly for fine cup beans, to see if prices will improve.

"Even with fine coffee being traded above the good level of 600 reais ($113.67) per bag, producers are in the defensive," Barabach said in the report.

Safras & Mercado estimates Brazil's 2020 crop at a record 69.5 million 60-kg bags. Based on that projection, it says growers have sold 54.5 million bags so far.

Brazil has finished harvesting coffee in 2020. The next crop, which will be smaller due to the off-year in arabica's biennial cycle, will start to be harvested around April or May.