In light of Fairtrade’s recent announcement earlier this year, the new Fairtrade minimum price has officially been in force since August 1st. Many producers didn’t want to risk selling before the new minimum price came into effect. The ones who were cautious are now left with excess coffee. Read more here.
August has been a fairly slow month in terms of coffee trading on the market. The market was generally bearish over the summer with many holding off booking anticipating further declines. Towards the month’s end, activity dwindled, partly due to the US Labor Day weekend, which saw many traders step away from the market.
Asking our partners in South America, it seems that the trend for the formation of an El Niño is being confirmed. The phenomenon could raise temperatures during the next season, creating a hindrance to the coffee crop. It basically causes the waters of the Pacific to warm up, bringing more recurrent rains to coffee-growing areas and a tendency for the rains to stop sooner. However, despite the formation, forecasters say that it is far from being a Super El Niño. It will be very important to monitor and pay attention to the crops.
In this report, we will delve deeper into Brazil and Colombia.
Brazil
Some good news from Brazil this month came from space agency data indicating that the deforestation rate in Brazil’s rainforest is down to a 6-year low. The harvest has been progressing steadily in the country’s coffee-producing regions and it is pretty much done in some areas.
The dry weather has helped process coffee on patios. The weather indicates normal rain forecasted for the months of September and October, which will help the last producing regions to complete the harvest without major concerns. Cooxupe, Brazil’s largest exporter, reported that their harvest was 92% complete by the 31st of August.
Self-employed truck drivers went on strike on the 30th of August in the Port of Santos. They are trying to alert authorities about the union’s working conditions at the Port of Santos. But we haven’t heard major concerns in terms of delays in shipments from our producing partners in Brazil.
Port of Santos
Colombia
On the 17th of August, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake shook Bogota creating a wave of panic in the capital city’s streets. Fortunately, no major damage or casualties were reported.
We are currently in between the mitaca (fly crop) and the main crop in Colombia, and neutral weather forecasts should help have a problem-free crop. As noticed in Brazil, the falling prices in the NY coffee market are not encouraging coffee farmers to sell the remainder of their fly-crop.
We are starting to see fresh crop samples slowly coming into our QC lab, with the highly anticipated Café Granja La Esperanza samples from their auction lots arriving soon. Contact us now if you’re interested!
Have you considered AI as a part of your strategy? The Colombian coffee chain, Juan Valdez, developed new drinks using AI. The new menu additions, ‘Snowy Drink of Mocha’, ‘Chocolaty Avocado’ and ‘Latte of Lavender and Blackberry’ were created with the help of AI technology ‘Chat GPT’. The brand offered these drinks made with ingredients targeting younger generations for just one day for free in their Bogota branch. Read more here.
