Brazilian coffee sales to China increased a whopping 132.48 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2023, reports Xinhua.
Counted in 60kg bags, Brazil exported 669,292 bags of coffee to China in the period, compared to 287,889 a year prior, according to figures from Cecafe, the Brazilian council of coffee exporters. The increase was enough to edge China into the top 10 destinations for Brazilian coffee, though still well behind the US (4.36 million), Germany (3.15 million), Italy (2.04 million), Japan (1.7 million) and Belgium (1.43 million).
Production is expected to increase from July 2023 to June 2024 to 66.4 million bags, up 3.8 million over the previous year’s crop. So far, though, coffee exports have dipped by 9.1 percent year-on-year.
[See more: Chinese agribusiness imports from Brazil grow 43.3% in 2022]
Coffee came to Brazil in the 1700s and rose to prominence within a century, becoming the country’s leading export in 1820 and making it the largest exporter of coffee by 1840. Vast agricultural lands and a favourable climate have continued to fuel the industry over the past two centuries.
Today, Brazil is known for its advanced cultivation techniques and skilled labour to ensure consistent and superior coffee yields. It is also a leader in sustainable coffee cultivation, producing one-third of the purchased coffee recognised as sustainable by the Global Coffee Platform.
China has become a major destination for Brazilian coffee, with exports increasing by around 70 percent between 2017 and 2023. One expert told the Global Times that China will be a nearly trillion-yuan coffee market by 2025.
