Brazil's Cooxup, the country's largest coffee cooperative and biggest exporter, has seen a quick start to the 2017 harvest and does not expect problems stemming from recent rains, its president, Carlos Paulino da Costa, said on Friday. Paulino said associated farmers had collected 11.4 percent of the 4.28 million bags the cooperative expects to receive this year by June 3. He said that compares with 9.9 percent during a similar period last year.
"That anticipation is a result of warm weather, which boosts trees' metabolism," Cooxup's head told reporters on the sidelines of Sao Paulo's Coffee Summit. Producers have been able to maintain a good rhythm of harvesting, Paulino said. "We have had good periods of sun between the rains, so farmers have been able to keep up fieldwork."
Paulino said the first lots received by the cooperative were generally of good quality. But he complained about current international prices for arabica coffee, saying the market was already pricing in a large Brazilian crop in 2018. At the Coffee Summit, the head of Brazil's export association Cecaf, said some factors such as good crop care and favourable weather point to an increase in production next year. Cecaf expects to see a large increase in monthly Brazilian coffee shipments in the future to around 4 million bags, from around 2.2 million currently.