Brazil Coffee Output Seen Rising 16%, Colombia to Fall: Importer

By Marvin G. Perez

(Bloomberg) --

Brazil’s coffee output may rise this year to 65m bags from 56m bags a year earlier driven by improved weather conditions, notably for arabica trees, according to Florida-based importer Wolthers Douque.

Arabica output will climb to 44m bags from 36m, while the robusta crop will increase to 21m bags from 20m, president Christian Wolthers says in an interview discussing preliminary estimates
It’s still unclear what impact, if any, erratic weather conditions will have on yields after excessive rain washed off fertilizer across some fields and hail storms also hit some crops
New 2023 harvest will start in 2Q after drought and frost curbed potential past two seasons
Colombia’s 2022-23 production may drop to between 10.5m-11m bags from 11.7m a year earlier, Hector Gonzalez, representative for Wolthers in the Andean nation says by phone
Too much rain and clouds caused by La Nina weather conditions will hurt yield potential for a third year
Growers have not been able to conduct normal tree renovation, so yields from older plants are diminishing
NOTE: Bag weighs 60 kg, or 132 pounds; the two countries account for more than half of world arabica output