BRASÍLIA: Brazilian coffee exports remained surprisingly strong during the interharvest period due to the strength of private sector stocks, the association of coffee exporters Cecafe said on Monday. Exports of green coffee rose to 2.69 million 60-kg bags in March, surpassing the 2.61 million bags in February but still falling short of the 2.81 million bags exported in the third month of 2015, Cecafe said in a monthly report.
After exporting 33 million bags of green coffee over the past 12 months, which is near record territory, Cecafe President Nelson Carvalhaes said Brazil needs to produce 58 million bags from the crop nearing harvest in order to meet domestic and international demand.
Arabica beans made up the bulk of last month’s coffee exports with 2.64 million bags, up from the 2.47 million bags of the milder bean shipped in March of 2015, Cecafe reported. Brazil’s coffee belt has suffered from prolonged spells of severely hot and dry weather in 2014 and early 2015.