On March 27th, the Cepea/Esalq Indicator for Robusta type 6 coffee, sieve 13 above, closed at R$ 955.19/60 kg bag, the highest value in the historical series of Cepea for the variety, started in November 2001, in real terms (deflation by the IGP-DI of February/24). In March, the appreciation was an expressive 13.3% or 111.67 Reais/sc. The monthly average of the Indicator was R$892.73/sc, 6% higher than in February, a significant 38.1% higher than in March/23, and also a record.
Robusta prices are approaching those of arabica, a rare move in the market. To give you an idea, according to the Vitória Coffee Commerce Center (CCCV), a bag of arabica, last Tuesday (2), was sold at R$ 1,030. Conilon costs R$ 966.
According to Cepea researchers, the boost comes mainly from the greater international demand for the Brazilian variety. Foreign buyers have been moving to Brazil, faced with problems related to the Vietnam harvest, which is the largest producer of Robusta in the world. In December 2023, the USDA indicated that the Asian country’s production could fall 12% compared to data released in June of the same year.
