SAO PAULO, Brazil – Forecasts for a large 2018/19 coffee crop as well as satisfactory inventories in the 2019/20 season (mainly due to the large Brazilian crop in the next cycle) pressed down arabica and robusta prices in the domestic and the international markets in March.
With the devaluations of both varieties, the arabica average price last month was the lowest since January 2014, and the robusta average price, since December 2013, in real terms (values were deflated by the IGP-DI from February/19). This scenario, in turn, kept growers away from the market, says Cepea in its latest report.
In March, the CEPEA/ESALQ Index for arabica coffee type 6 (delivered in São Paulo) averaged 395.61 BRL (103.02 USD) per 60-kilo bag, 14.1% down compared to that in March/18, in real terms.
Concerning robusta, the CEPEA/ESALQ Index for the robusta type 6, screen 13, Espírito Santo State, averaged 302.88 BRL (78.87 USD) per 60-kilo bag, 7.5% down in the same comparison.
As for trades, Cepea surveys show that the coffee volume from the 2018/19 crop traded (arabica and robusta) increased slightly between February and March: from 60 – 80% to 70 – 80%.
Except for some areas in Espírito Santo, the weather continued to favor the development of the 2019/20 crop in March. Large rain volumes followed by sunny days favored arabica crops homogeneity.
Although the harvesting pace is expected to step up in most producing regions only between late April and early May, in Rondônia, Garça (SP) and Zona da Mata (MG), fieldwork may step up in early April. In Rondônia, activities started at early crops in the second fortnight of March.
