USA acquires 20% of coffee exported volume in the first quarter of 2020

In the first quarter of this year 2020, the total sum of Brazilian Coffee exports reached a physical volume equivalent to 9,6 million 60kg bags, and the foreign exchange revenue obtained was US$ 1,3 billion, with an average price of US $135,48 a bag. During this period, if a ranking is established of the ten countries that imported the most Brazilian coffees, it can be seen that the USA continued to be the main importer, with 1,8 million bags purchased, the volume of which corresponded to 19,3% of the total exports. Germany, the second largest importer, acquired 1,7 million, a total equivalent to 17,8% of exports; and Italy, in third, with 939 thousand bags (9,8%).

Following this ranking, Belgium stands out in fourth place, with 493,6 thousand bags (5,2%); Japan, in fifth, with 485,6 thousand bags (5,1%); in sixth, the Russian Federation, with 322,5 thousand bags (3,4%); Türkiye, in seventh, with 282,6 thousand bags (2,9%); Spain, in eighth, with 245,2 thousand bags (2,6%); Canada (ninth), with 221,2 thousand bags (2,3%); and, finally, in tenth place, France stands out, with 203,8 thousand bags purchased from Brazil, the volume of which corresponds to 2,1% of what was exported in the first quarter of 2020.

Focusing this analysis on Brazilian Coffee exports only in the month of March this year, it appears that sales abroad of Brazilian coffee reached 3,1 million bags, including in this total the sum of green, soluble and roasted and ground coffee . In relation to the foreign exchange revenue generated in March 2020, which reached US$423,72 million, this amount represents an increase of 6,1% compared to March 2019. And as for the average price per bag, which was US$ $ 135,72, this value denotes an increase of 6% on the same basis of comparison. 

As for the types of coffee exported, only in the month of March highlighted, it was noted that coffees of the conilon (robusta) variety showed a significant increase of 30,2% in sales, compared to the same month of March 2019. Furthermore, in March this year, 248,5 thousand bags of conilon were exported, a volume that corresponded to 8% of total exports.

Analyzing this same performance and establishing the same comparative basis for Arabica coffees, it appears that this species represented 82,2% of the total volume of coffee exported in the month, with 2,6 million bags sold. And, in addition to the analysis of the performance of exports of all types of coffee, soluble coffee, which is the type of industrialized coffee, exported in March represented 9,8% of sales. This sale corresponds to 306 thousand 60 kg bags. Based on this performance of Brazilian Coffee exports, it can be inferred that in March the export performance was very positive, as export volumes maintained the levels of March 2019, even with the 2019-2020 harvest being 20% smaller than the previous one.

The data and figures on the performance of Brazilian Coffee exports, which are allowing this analysis to be carried out on screen, in addition to several others that can also be carried out, were obtained from Monthly Report March 2020, from the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council – Cecafé, which is available in full on Coffee Observatory, from the Café Research Consortium, coordinated by Embrapa Coffee.  

As also stated in the Cecafé Report in question, in the context of the aforementioned ranking of the ten largest importers of Coffees from Brazil, the Russian Federation and Spain, in the studied period of the three months in reference, from January to March 2020, stood out to the present significant growth in the purchase of Brazilian coffee, compared to the same period of the previous year, as they registered significant increases in their purchases, of 23,7% and 28,5%, respectively.

Cecafé also highlights in the Monthly Report March 2020 that the continents and blocks of countries that stood out most in terms of growth in the purchase of Brazilian Coffees, also in the same three-month period, were African countries, which registered an increase of 44,5%, with the acquisition of 205 thousand bags; Central America, which registered growth in purchases of 29,2%, acquiring 25,3 thousand bags; BRICS countries, 23,8% - 435,7 thousand bags; Eastern Europe, 21,4% - 495,8 thousand bags; Mercosur, which grew by 11,2%, with imports of 166,9 thousand bags; and, finally, producing countries, which increased their imports of Brazilian coffee by 10,1%, with a physical volume of 418,6 thousand 60kg bags.