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Despite news of unforeseen rain harming Brazil’s harvest, and the potential for a strong El Niño to disrupt weather patterns worldwide, the United States Department of Agriculture predicts we’ll have a record global coffee harvest.
In a report published on July 22, the USDA forecast that coffee farms globally will yield 189.7 million 60kg bags, a 6% increase from the harvest season before. Numbers are up primarily because of potentially record harvests in Brazil, Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Uganda, which will compensate for predicted losses in India and Indonesia.
The report forecasts a rise in global consumption as well. Coffee drinkers are expected to consume 179.7 million bags, 3.6% more than last year. Consumption in China is predicted to increase 5.1%, while U.S. consumption will rise 5.7% and domestic consumption in Brazil and Ethiopia will also go up.
The USDA report notes that commodity coffee prices fell 25% over the first seven months of the year—market prices dropped again when the report was released on Wednesday. According to the financial portal and news site Barchart, the arabica futures market closed 2.3% lower on Thursday, the day after the report’s publication.
Read the USDA global coffee report here.
Photo by Caelen Cockrum on Unsplash
