U.S. Water News Online
BRASILIA, Brazil -- A prolonged drought will sharply reduce Brazil's next coffee harvest to around 28.9 million bags, the government said.
The eagerly awaited official estimate represents a drop of about 28 percent from the original expectations of a record 40-million-bag harvest in 2000-01. Still, it was better than the more pessimistic private guesses of 25 million bags.
Brazil is the No. 1 producer and exporter of coffee, and a smaller harvest usually means higher prices at cafes and supermarkets around the world.
Coffee prices have soared in recent months, hitting a two-week high of about $1.40 a pound before falling back.
The Agriculture Ministry said 23.1 million bags of the 2000-01 harvest will be arabica coffee and the rest will be the lower-grade conillon variety. Each bag contains 60 kilos, or 130 pounds, of coffee beans.
The top producing state of Minas Gerais escaped the worst drought damage, and output of arabica is expected to rise to 14.2 million bags in 2000-01 from 13.86 million bags in the current crop.
But in Sao Paulo state, the arabica harvest will shrink to 3.4 million bags from 3.82 million bags this harvest. In neighboring Parana state, production in 2000-01 is forecast at 2.2 million bags, down from 2.37 million bags currently.
The government also revised its estimate for the 1999-2000 coffee crop to 27.17 million bags, up 9.6 percent from its May estimate of 24.8 million bags.
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