Coffee farmers in the world's largest producer have basically finished harvesting this year's crop, ahead of time, consultancy Safras & Mercado said in a report on Thursday. Safras said farmers had already collected 98% of the crop, more than the 94% seen at this time last year and also ahead of a five-year average of 92%. Harvest pace was quicker this year due to abnormal weather conditions that led to early flowering and, consequently, early development of coffee fruits, it said.

The consultancy expects Brazil to produce 58.9 million 60-kg bags of coffee this year, not far from the record of 62 million bags in 2018 and the largest production on record for an off-year in the biennial coffee production cycle. "There is only some sweeping to be done in some farms. The harvest is practically over", said Safras coffee analyst Gil Barabach. The analyst said that despite the reasonable crop size, farmers were disappointed with the overall quality.

"Particularly in the later stages of the harvest, the result was not good, with lower grade coffee that will fetch lower selling prices," he said. The consultancy estimated that farmers had sold 43% of the current crop so far, more than seen at this time last year, when they had sold 38%, and also ahead of a five-year average of 37%.

Copyright Reuters, 2019