Brazil Coffee Output May Fall More Than Expected on Restoration

By Katia Cortes-Oct 21, 2010 12:22 PM GMT-0300

Coffee output in Brazil, the world’s biggest producer, may be lower than expected next year as growers prune trees to improveproductivity and the plants enter a lower yielding cycle, an Agriculture Ministry official said.

Growers are taking advantage of rising sales after prices surged to a 13-year high to invest more in crops, adding fertilizer and pruning branches and leaves to invigorate trees, Carlos Besteti, manager of crop assessment at the ministry’s crop forecasting agency, known as Conab, said in an interview.

The pruning of the trees may cut production next year even more than already expected, as crops enter the lower yielding halfofa two-year cycle, according to Besteti. Global demand for arabica beans will exceed supply by 1.3 million bags in the year starting Oct. 1, according to Macquarie Group Ltd.

“Growers are spending more on their crops now to bear fruits later,” Besteti said in a telephone interview from Brasilia. “Bycutting branches now, crops will be much more vigorous in 2012, when Brazil is set to produce a bumper crop.”

Arabica coffee prices rose to a 13-year high in New York today of $2.0315 a pound on concern that output may fall in Brazil and Colombia, the world’s two biggest growers of the variety, favored by Starbucks Corp. and other coffee chains.

Brazil will harvest 47.2 million bags this year, compared with 39.5 million bags last year, Conab said on Sept. 9. Conab willrelease its first estimate for next year’s crop on Dec. 14. Besteti declined to give an estimate for next year’s crop.
A bag of coffee weighs 60 kilograms (132 pounds).Brazil Coffee Output May Fall More Than Expected on Restoration
By Katia Cortes-Oct 21, 2010 12:22 PM GMT-0300
Coffee output in Brazil, the world’s biggest producer, may be lower than expected next year as growers prune trees to improveproductivity and the plants enter a lower yielding cycle, an Agriculture Ministry official said.
Growers are taking advantage of rising sales after prices surged to a 13-year high to invest more in crops, adding fertilizer and pruning branches and leaves to invigorate trees, Carlos Besteti, manager of crop assessment at the ministry’s crop forecasting agency, known as Conab, said in an interview.
The pruning of the trees may cut production next year even more than already expected, as crops enter the lower yielding halfofa two-year cycle, according to Besteti. Global demand for arabica beans will exceed supply by 1.3 million bags in the year starting Oct. 1, according to Macquarie Group Ltd.
“Growers are spending more on their crops now to bear fruits later,” Besteti said in a telephone interview from Brasilia. “Bycutting branches now, crops will be much more vigorous in 2012, when Brazil is set to produce a bumper crop.”
Arabica coffee prices rose to a 13-year high in New York today of $2.0315 a pound on concern that output may fall in Brazil and Colombia, the world’s two biggest growers of the variety, favored by Starbucks Corp. and other coffee chains.
Brazil will harvest 47.2 million bags this year, compared with 39.5 million bags last year, Conab said on Sept. 9. Conab willrelease its first estimate for next year’s crop on Dec. 14. Besteti declined to give an estimate for next year’s crop.
A bag of coffee weighs 60 kilograms (132 pounds).