Cerrado coffee may compensate for Brazil frost loss

When Brazil contracts a frost bite, the global coffee industry gets painful shivers. The hail can annihilate or literally deliver a body blow to coffee plantations in Brazil bringing down the output significantly. Naturally, when the news pops up in the terminals, coffee chain operators drop their head and cup their temples awkwardly. It means their margins would drop...

This trend has not been reversed for a long while and Brazilian hail remained the undisputed villain with a heroic winning trait.

Not anymore!

“At this time of the year (April) the market traditionally starts speculating about the possible risk of frost in Brazil during winter. However, changes in the location of Brazilian production in recent decades mean that the risk of frost has diminished considerably.” –says the latest monthly report by International Coffee Organisation.

Though the report was muted about the identity of the region, further probe told us that the credit is well deserved by Cerrado Region in Brazil’s Minas Gerais.

Located in the southeast region, Minas Gerais is the largest coffee-growing state in Brazil producing 50% of the national production. Coffee from the state is exported through the ports of Santos, Rio de Janeiro and Vitória.

Almost 100% coffee grown in the region is Arabica variety.

Previously, the Cerrado region was thought to be unfit for cultivation; any crop cultivation for that matter, until some agricultural genius at Brazil’s agricultural and livestock research agency, Embrapa, discovered that by appropriate additions of phosphorus and lime, the fertility could be bettered.

Now, the coffee produced in Cerrado is an important export item of Brazil. The Cerrado coffee is clean with low-acidity and good to taste and is grown in altitudes of around 850 meters. The trees provide huge quantities of coffee from large plantations.

Coffee is relatively new to this region and importantly the dry weather in the region during the harvest helps the coffee farmers.

Another important factor contributing to farmers’ savings is the flat topography of the region that allows the growers to employ mechanical harvesting.

The region is about three times the size of Texas. Exact coffee output figures from Cerrado region, however was not available.

As published in: http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Cerrado-coffee-may-compensate-for-Brazil-frost-loss-38935-3-1.html