Brazil coffee crop eyed at 54.9 million bags

Brazilian agriculture consultancy Safras & Mercado estimates the world's top coffee producer will harvest 54.9 million 60-kg bags of beans in the 2012/13 crop, which endured overly dry weather through its development.Safras' second forecast for the crop was at the higher end of an earlier estimate for 52.2-55 million bags and said early feedback from the recently begun harvest was positive.
The weather also turned wetter lately, topping up moisture for beans to fill out.The official government forecast from the agriculture ministry's crop supply agency Conab in January put the current crop at 49-52.3 million bags. About three quarters of Brazil's crop is made up of milder arabica beans and the remainder, of less expensive robusta. Safras' estimate for the arabica part of the harvest was for 40.3 million bags and robusta was seen at 14.6 million bags.