Text: Paulo André Kawasaki/Cecafé - 01/17/2022

Brazil exported 40.372 million bags of 60 kg of coffee in 2021, obtaining US$ 6.242 billion. The performance represents a drop of 9.7% in volume, but an evolution of 10.3% in foreign exchange revenue compared to the numbers recorded in the 12 months of 2020. The data are part of the statistical report of the Council of Coffee Exporters of Brazil (Cecafé) .

This performance implies the third largest volume sent abroad by the country in history, even in the midst of the transition to a low cycle crop, and, in terms of value, the best in the last seven years, reflecting the high prices in the market and the favorable exchange rate for exports.

“Faced with the start of the 2021/22 season, with a smaller harvest due to the biennial cycle and the impacts of the climate on coffee plantations in Brazil, we are experiencing intense volatility in the market. The quotations evolved to close to their historical levels, with the average price of exports, of US$ 154.63, being one of the highest in the series. These factors, combined with a strong dollar against the real, favored the greater inflow of foreign exchange into Brazil”, analyzes Nicolas Rueda, president of Cecafé.

According to him, last year's performance is significant and results from the professionalism of Brazilian exporters, who performed exemplary work to deal with a significant increase in freight costs, cargo rollovers, constant cancellations of bookings and dispute over containers and space on vessels.

“We lived a whole year with the impacts of Covid-19 and the capacity of our associates was what allowed Brazil to achieve the third best performance in volume shipped in history. National exporters were resilient and made titanic efforts, not letting themselves be defeated. Thus, after more than two decades, and as an alternative, they resumed shipments in the 'break bulk' modality, with modern technology, via 'big bags', which partially made up for the lack of containers”, he praises.

LOGISTICS – Despite the relevant performance achieved by exporters, Cecafé points out that logistical bottlenecks in world maritime trade impacted the final result of Brazilian coffee exports last year.

“We observed an improvement in the flow of shipments in December, also motivated by shipments via 'break bulk'. Even so, we project that Brazil stopped exporting around 3 million bags and receiving approximately US$ 465 million in revenue”, estimates Rueda.

Another point that highlights the impacts of these obstacles is the reduction in the number of containers shipped abroad with coffee. Last year, 112,732 containers were shipped, which represents a drop of 9.8% compared to the 125,034 shipped throughout 2020.

MAIN DESTINATIONS – In 2021, Brazil exported coffee to 122 countries. The United States led the ranking by importing 7.781 million bags, a volume 4.4% lower than that measured between January and December 2020 and which represented 19.3% of total Brazilian shipments last year.

Germany, representing 16.2%, acquired 6.539 million bags (-14.4%) and occupied second place on the list. Then come Italy, with the purchase of 2.944 million bags (-2.5%); Belgium, with 2.839 million (-24.6%); and Japan, with imports of 2.509 million bags (+4.2%).

It is also worth mentioning Colombia, the third largest coffee producer in the world, which was the seventh main destination for Brazilian exports of the product. The neighboring country acquired 1.158 million bags, showing the highest volume growth in the range, of 289,561 bags, which was equivalent to a percentage increase of 33.4 points.

Still in terms of volume, China was the second biggest highlight in purchases of Brazilian coffee in 2021, behind Colombia, increasing its imports by 132,003 bags (+65%) compared to 2020. In the 12 months of last year, the Chinese purchased 333,648 bags of the national product.

TYPES OF COFFEE – Arabica coffee was the most exported in 2021, with 32.655 million bags shipped abroad, which corresponded to 80.9% of the total. The soluble segment had 4.032 million bags shipped, representing 10%. Then come the canéfora variety (robusta + conilon), with 3.639 million bags (9%), and roasted and ground coffee, with 45,766 bags (0.1%).

PORTS – The Santos (SP) maritime complex remained the main exporter of coffee in Brazil last year, with the shipment of 31.108 million bags between January and December, which is equivalent to 77.1% of the total. Then come the ports of Rio de Janeiro, which accounted for 16.3% of shipments, sending 6.582 million bags, and Vitória (ES), with the shipment of 1.041 million bags abroad and a representation of 2.6% .

DIFFERENTIATED COFFEE – On the other hand, differentiated coffees, which have superior quality or some type of certificate of sustainable practices, accounted for 19% of total Brazilian exports of the product from January to December 2021, with the shipment of 7.669 million bags abroad. This volume represents a decline of 2.7% compared to the 7.877 million bags shipped across the country in 2020.

The average price of this product was US$ 207.53 per bag, providing revenue of US$ 1.591 billion in 12 months, which corresponds to 25.5% of the total obtained from shipments. In the annual comparison, the value is 23.4% higher than that measured in the same previous interval.

CROP YEAR – In the first six months of the 2021/22 coffee season, Brazil recorded the best foreign exchange earnings in the last five years. The country obtained US$ 3.438 billion with the shipment of 19.429 million bags from last July to December, a performance that represents an increase of 12.8% compared to the same previous interval, despite the 21.4% decline in volume.

The full report on coffee exports in calendar year 2021 is available on Cecafé's website: https://www.cecafe.com.br/.