Brazil’s Top Coffee Exporter Sees Record Shipments in 2022
Brazil’s largest coffee exporter anticipates record arabica-bean shipments this year as logistical bottlenecks that hampered flows last year ease.
According to Cooxupe’s President Carlos Augusto Rodrigues de Melo, the cooperative’s exports will increase by 20% to 5.9 million bags in 2022. Exports remained stable at 4.9 million bags in 2021. Given that the cooperative’s harvest is expected to be similar to last year’s, it plans to increase shipments through stockpiles and coffee purchased outside the organisation.
“We experienced significant upheavals last year, but we are starting 2022 in a much stronger position,” Melo said late Friday in a telephone interview.
The pandemic’s staggered economic restarts and the acceleration of online shopping created a freight shortage. This increased the cost of shipping containers used to transport coffee, further increasing prices that were already high due to a shortage in Brazil last year.
The supply of containers has increased, and the cooperative has increased shipments since December, reducing its stockpiles, he said. Cooxupe has so far exported 300,000 bags of coffee weighing 60 kilogrammes via break bulk vessels, Melo said.
Crops are in excellent condition for next year’s harvest, he said, as recent rains have increased vegetative development. According to Melo, this year’s crop will bear the brunt of last year’s drought and severe drought. Brazil’s output in 2021 may be only slightly higher, he said.
