Coffee exporters report losses of R$5,9 million in August

Brazilian coffee exporters continue to accumulate losses caused by logistics bottlenecks and the country's outdated port infrastructure. In August alone, companies suffered losses of R$5,9 million in additional storage, pre-stacking, and detention costs due to the inability to ship 624.766 bags—1.893 containers—of the product, according to a survey conducted by the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council (Cecafé) among its members.

Furthermore, the failure to ship this volume prevented the country from receiving US$221,28 million, or R$1,205 billion, as foreign exchange revenue from its commercial transactions in August of this year alone, considering the average Free on Board (FOB) export price of US$354,18 per bag (green coffee) and the average dollar exchange rate of R$5,4463 last month.

"It's a recurring scenario, and unfortunately, it's likely to worsen in the coming months and years unless there's rapid investment in Brazil's ports to increase yard and berth capacity. Agribusiness is growing at significant rates, but port infrastructure and the country's increased diversification of transportation modes aren't keeping pace, resulting in constant losses for exporters, especially those handling cargo that relies on containers for export," laments Eduardo Heron, technical director of Cecafé.

According to him, without investments, the tendency is to see increasingly crowded ports and constant delays of vessels, as the current structure is exhausted.

"As a result, Cecafé has been in constant contact with other exporting entities and public and private authorities to present the worrying data on this reality and encourage them to use resources to make the necessary improvements and, in particular, to ensure that procedures occur quickly and without bureaucracy," it reports.

Heron recalls, for example, the imbroglio in the Tecon Santos 10 auction process due to the restrictions proposed by the board of the National Waterway Transportation Agency (Antaq), which limit broad participation in the bidding process.

"The slowness and restriction of companies participating in the bidding process, as decided by the Antaq board, will lead to judicialization of the process and further delay the provision of capacity to users of the Port of Santos, which will certainly increase the losses to Brazilian foreign trade. We need speed in the provision of capacity at the ports," he states.

Aiming to optimize logistics and infrastructure in Brazil's ports, Cecafé has been carrying out a series of actions with the government, parliamentarians, entities representing exporters and port users.

In September, the entity, together with Instituto Pensar Agro (IPA), Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA), National Confederation of Industry (CNI), Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA) and Logística Brasil, met with federal deputy Arthur Maia, rapporteur of Bill (PL) 733/2025, which aims to generate a new regulatory framework for the Brazilian Port System.

On that occasion, the entity defended the maintenance of the guarantee of moderateness and publicity of tariffs and prices practiced in the port sector, contained in Law No. 12.815, of June 5, 2013, and expressed recognition of the advances contained in PL 733/2025, highlighting, to Congressman Arthur Maia, the importance of seeking a new and modern port law, with the objective of increasing the competitiveness and efficiency of the country's foreign trade, avoiding increased expenses for cargo users.

"Through a document prepared within the scope of the IPA, which was presented to the deputy by the FPA, Cecafé highlighted the importance of a good governance structure and a more balanced composition in the Port Authority Council (CAP), including the participation of cargo users, with the objective of debating relevant topics, in a technical manner, such as polygons, dredging and local autonomy and integration of ports with the various modes (railways, waterways and highways) for the establishment of goals", he reveals.

Cecafé's technical director also emphasizes the importance of the new ports law including the creation of logistics indicators to assess port performance more accurately and transparently, so that this information can be processed within the CAP or other public bodies so that investments and expansion of port infrastructure capacity anticipate demand, with actions no longer guided solely by narratives, since, currently, public authorities have difficulty identifying logistical bottlenecks in the face of consecutive record-breaking Brazilian foreign trade.

Already in contact with federal deputy Evair de Melo, Cecafé presented a request for a public hearing to be held at the Agriculture, Livestock, Supply and Rural Development Committee (CapaDR) of the Federal Chamber, with the aim of discussing the impacts of the exhaustion of port infrastructure in the country, from the perspective of the competitive obstacles imposed by Antaq, and the importance of moving forward, urgently, with the auction of Tecon Santos 10.

"Representative Evair understood the importance of the issue and demonstrated great interest in supporting coffee exporters in their quest for better conditions and port efficiency, making himself available to file our request for a public hearing, which should be scheduled soon," he said.

Heron notes that Cecafé has also been holding a series of meetings with other entities linked to exports, presenting data from its Zero Detention Bulletin (DTZ), which reveal the critical situation experienced by exporters due to outdated infrastructure in ports, to seek synergy and joint work in presenting demands and proposals to port authorities to improve the logistics structure and at the piers.

"Our most recent meeting was with the CNI, where we proposed joining forces to expedite the Tecon Santos 10 auction process and prevent bureaucracy from slowing down the process, causing further losses for exporters," he explains.

The technical director of Cecafé recalled, at the meeting, that, in the Reference Panel promoted by the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU), the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) had expressed its support for there being no restrictions on participation in the Tecon Santos 10 auction and that there were more appropriate “remedies” to curb potential market concentrations.

"After CADE declared itself in favor of removing restrictions on participants in the panel organized by the TCU, it makes no sense to continue with such obstacles and impediments to the Tecon Santos 10 auction, as this condition could lead to the process eventually being taken to court. Cecafé and other exporter and port user organizations understand the need to expand port infrastructure in Brazil, and given the complexity of the matter, we are joining forces to maintain this debate and seek measures that can mitigate the risks of the country's logistical and port challenges," concludes Heron.

X-ray of delays

In August 2025, 50% of ships, or 168 of a total of 335 vessels, experienced delays or changed calls at Brazil's main ports, according to the DTZ Bulletin, prepared by the startup ElloX Digital in partnership with Cecafé.

The Port of Santos, which handled 80,2% of coffee shipments from January to August this year, recorded a 67% rate of ship delays or changes in port calls, affecting 122 of its 182 container vessels. The longest wait time last month was 47 days at the Santos dock.

Also in August, only 4% of boarding procedures took more than four days for ships to open their gates at the Port of Santos. Another 59% took between three and four days, and 38% took less than two days.

The port complex in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil's second-largest coffee exporter, with a 15,8% share of shipments between January and August 2025, had a 38% delay rate in the previous month, with the longest delay being 36 days between the first and last deadlines. This percentage indicates that 30 of the 79 vessels destined for coffee shipments had their ports of call changed.

Still in the eighth month of this year, 44% of export procedures took more than four days for container ships to open gates in Rio de Janeiro ports; 37% took between three and four days; and 19% took less than two days.