Brazil reverses decision of robusta coffee import

Viet Nam lost an opportunity to export Robusta coffee to Brazil after the Brazil Government reversed ít decision of coffee import.

Brazil provisionally suspended its decision allowing the country’s import of robusta coffee for the first time in history, including from Việt Nam.

The reversal was issued on Wednesday after a meeting held the day before with the participation of several congressmen, leaders of coffee industry and Government Secretary Antonio Imbassahy to assess the domestic coffee production situation.

On Monday, the Brazil government approved the import of Robusta coffee to meet the demand for instant coffee production, following the proposal from instant coffee processors who said the country lacked Robusta for instant coffee production.

The processors said the price of domestic robusta bean was very expensive. Till date, many processors did not dare to receive export orders due to the lack of beans, which could lead to a loss in market share.

Brazil is currently the world's largest exporter of coffee, including instant coffee.

In 2016, the country recorded nearly 50 million 60kg bags, a year-on-year increase of 15 per cent. However, due to prolonged drought, the productivity of Robusta coffee was only 8.3 million bags, reducing by 25 per cent compared with 2015 – the lowest ever volume in the last 12 years.