Brazil exported 3.06 million 60-kg bags of green coffee in March, 2.7% less than in the same month a year earlier, exporters association Cecafe said in a monthly report on Monday. Shipments of arabica coffee fell 6.3% in March to 2.71 million bags, while exports of robusta coffee increased 38% to 351,735 bags, the industry group said. Cecafe’s head Nicolas Rueda saw as positive the data for the month, despite the small reduction in the volume, saying the sector is dealing with challenges.
He said there was still a limited supply of containers for coffee exporters who are having to plan well to have shipments delivered on time. But the Cecafe head sees a reduction of monthly volumes in the new season that starts in July, due to the fact the country will harvest a much smaller crop this year in the off-year of arabica’s biennial production cycle.