Coffee growers in Brazil had harvested 20% of the 2021 crop by May 25, a slower pace than seen a year ago and below the average for this time of the year, but the first lots showed good quality, consultancy Safras & Mercado said on Friday.

At this time in 2020, coffee farmers in the world's largest producer had collected 23% of the crop. The 5-year average for this time of the year is also 23%.

Safras coffee analyst Gil Barabach said in the report that many farmers decided to postpone fieldwork slightly, because most cherries were not ripe enough for harvesting.

He said that the first lots of new-crop coffee showed well formed beans and good cup tasting, meaning the production so far has good quality.

There are worries in the market regarding volumes and quality of the current Brazilian crop due to dry weather. Coffee fields in Brazil have had less rain than normal over the development cycle since last year's harvest.

Safras projects a crop of 56.5 million 60-kg bags in Brazil this year. The government has estimated a lower figure of 48.8 mln bags.