Brazil coffee zones still dry but warm

Brazil's coffee zones have gone a second week with little or no rain, but temperatures are still well above freezing as winter approaches, private weather service Somar said on Friday. No rain was recorded in the last three days in the main coffee-producing state of Minas Gerais, which produces half of Brazil's coffee, and none was forecast there for the next five days.
A few states will see light sprinkles of 1 to 2 millimetres by Tuesday. "There will be no change in the weather in the coffee zones in the next few days. There's no forecast of rain or cold air masses, and the weather will remain clear with temperatures rising," Somar stated in its daily coffee weather bulletin.
Brazilian coffee farms were stressed last year by dry weather, which led analysts to cut crop forecasts by 10 to 15 percent at the time. But trees recovered some of their productive potential after regular rains returned in October.
In its extended 10-day forecast, Somar said a cold front that would cross southern and south-eastern Brazil between May 18 and 20 would bring only light rain, and was not expected to lower temperatures. Minas Gerais will be coolest in the coming days with a low of 8 Celsius on Saturday before warming a few degrees.
The crop is forming coffee fruit and beans. The fruit will begin to mature into coffee cherries in the coming weeks and months. Producers in Espirito Santo and Rondonia states have begun manual harvesting of robusta beans in a few areas, weeks before the main arabica crop is gathered.
In its revised 2008/09 (July/June) crop forecast issued on May 8, the government estimated the new crop at 45.5 million 60-kg bags, higher than its first estimate in January of 41.3 to 44.2 million bags.
Output was a much lower 33.7 million bags in 2007/08. Production tends to seesaw because of a biennial cycle in which trees produce more one year and less the next. Rains and good fertilising should also work in the crop's favour. Analysts and traders put the new crop at an even higher 48 million to 55 million bags.