Coffee Crop in Brazil Region to Miss Estimates After Rain Hurt Flowering

Coffee Crop in Brazil Region to Miss Estimates After Rain Hurt Flowering
By Katia Cortes – Jul 13, 2010

Coffee output in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, the world’s biggest-growing region, will rise less than expected this year after rain hurt flowering, said a manager at the country’s second-biggest cooperative.

“Rains hurt output and the quality of the first beans we harvested,” said Marcelo Moura Almeida, chief agronomist at Cooparaiso, which accounts for about 9 percent of Brazil’s production of arabica coffee. “Lots of short showers between July and September made trees flower in different moments.”

Coffee output in Minas Gerais, which produces more than Vietnam and Colombia, will increase 20 percent this year to 23.9 million 60-kilogram (132-pound) bags, according to the government’s May 5 estimate. Almeida didn’t give an estimate for the state’s output.

Cooparaiso, representing about 6,000 growers in 37 towns of Minas Gerais, cut its estimate for production among its members this year to 3.1 million bags from 3.3 million bags, Almeida said today in a telephone interview from Sao Sebastiao do Paraiso, Brazil. Output will climb from 2 million bags last year because most trees in Brazil entered the best-yielding half of a two-year cycle.

Cooparaiso has harvested almost 40 percent of its coffee so far this year, Almeida said.

Brazil, where about 70 percent of the coffee is of the mild-tasting arabica variety, is the world’s biggest producer. Vietnam, the second-largest overall grower, leads output of robusta beans, used to make instant coffee.

Cooxupe, which also represents growers in Minas Gerais, is Brazil’s biggest coffee cooperative.