Brazil’s Robusta Coffee Exports Quadrupled in March, Cecafe Says

By Isis Almeida – Apr 8, 2011 1:12 PM GMT-0300

Robusta coffee exports from Brazil, the world’s second-largest producer of the variety after Vietnam, quadrupled in March to 183,421 bags, figures from the country’s Coffee Exporters Council, known as Cecafe, showed.

Shipments of arabica beans fell 6.9 percent to about 2.2 million bags, according to a Cecafe report yesterday. Brazil is the world’s largest producer of coffee and the biggest producer of arabicas.

Arabica beans are grown mainly in Latin America and favored for specialty beverages such as those made by Starbucks Corp. Robusta, used in instant coffee and espresso, is harvested mostly in Asia and parts of Africa.

To contact the reporter on this story: Isis Almeida in London at Ialmeida3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at Ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.