SAO PAULO: Brazilian farmers are preparing to start harvesting a larger robusta coffee crop this year just as local prices are at an all-time high and London robusta futures reach a 16-year peak. Brazil is the second largest producer of robusta after Vietnam, and the top grower of arabica coffee beans.

While robusta is generally bitter with higher caffeine content, arabica is a milder, more highly prized variety. Poor crops in Vietnam along with disruption of shipping in the Red Sea, led to a surge in robusta prices and drove up demand for Brazilian robustas - or conilons as they are known locally - with European roasters buying them as a replacement.

Experts expect a larger robusta production in Brazil in 2024. They say the harvest should start in April in some fields, gaining speed from May. There is not much left at warehouses from the 2023 crop, they added. “Trees are looking good, with good amount of fruits,” said Ramon Patrocinio, a crop consultant working for farms in Bahia and Espirito Santo states.

He believes production in those areas could grow 20% from 2023. Patrocinio believes new-crop robusta beans should start to get to market in June or July, after drying and cleaning. “The ones harvesting early probably need to raise cash to pay for crop bills, because there are still a lot of green beans in the trees,” said Enrique Alves, a researcher at Embrapa in Rondonia state, adding that ideally harvest should start when at least 80% of the beans are mature.

Broker StoneX projects Brazil’s 2024 robusta crop at 22.7 million bags versus 21.5 million bags in 2023. Alves said many farmers sold their new crop last year at lower prices, so they will not take full advantage of the rally.