
Brazil consumer coffee prices fall in July for first time in 18 months
During the preceding year and a half, coffee was one of the main drivers of inflation in Brazil, the world's second largest coffee market, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
The retail price drop followed a decline in prices paid to farmers after the harvest of the 2025 crop, which is now in its final stages in Brazil.
The reported decline in consumer coffee prices in Brazil for the month of July follows volatility in international markets, driven by issues such as the decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods.
While products such as orange juice were exempt from the measures, others including coffee, eggs and beef were not.
Last week, coffee futures in New York rose 8% as investors grew concerned that the tariffs could hinder trade between the world's largest coffee consumer, the United States, and the globe's biggest producer and exporter, Brazil.
It is too early to tell if Trump's decision to hike tariffs against Brazilian goods could lead to lower prices of staples including coffee, IBGE manager Fernando Goncalves told Reuters.
"It could be an effect of increased supply, and it's not possible to say or confirm that it's related to the tariff hike. The tariff hike only began this month," he said.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
27 minutes ago
- Reuters
South32 threatens to shut Mozal smelter as power talks drag on
MELBOURNE, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Australia's South32 ( opens new tab on Thursday flagged a $372 million impairment on its Mozambique aluminium smelter which the miner said it was preparing to mothball as it may not be able to secure affordable power when its supply agreement ends in 2026. The diversified miner has been in protracted negotiations with Mozambique's government over a power agreement that is set to expire in March. It warned in July that it may face an impairment at the smelter during fiscal 2025 and was reviewing production after failing to secure affordable power. "You've got to have a business that can make money through the cycle and at least be cash flow positive and give you some return to your shareholders," CEO Graham Kerr told Reuters. "The current offer on the table would make us cash flow negative every single month, every single day," he said. Given care and maintenance was the most likely scenario, South 32 said in an exchange filing it would curtail activities such as pot relining and would limit further investment in the operations. The company's shares fell more than 5%. The miner has since continued engagement with the Mozambique government, hydroelectric producer Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) and South African utility Eskom. Shuttering the smelter is not a done deal, if the two parties can reach agreement on costs. 'We are hopeful a workable solution emerges that enables Mozal to operate beyond March 2026, and maintain its substantial contribution to Mozambique,' Kerr added. HCB, majority-owned by the Mozambique government, is the primary power supplier to Mozal. When it cannot meet the smelter's needs, Eskom steps in under the current agreement. The miner expects its share of Mozal's output in fiscal 2026 to fall to about 240 kilo tons, compared with 355 kilo tons in 2025. July was the second time South32 flagged impairments at its Mozal project. In December, nationwide protests in Mozambique disrupted operations and weighed on production.


Reuters
32 minutes ago
- Reuters
India and China work to improve ties amid Trump's unpredictability
NEW DELHI/BEIJING, Aug 14 (Reuters) - From talks on resuming direct flights to a series of high-level bilateral visits, longtime rivals China and India are quietly and cautiously strengthening ties against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump's unpredictable approach to both. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to visit New Delhi next week for talks with India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on their disputed Himalayan border, the second such meeting since a deadly clash in 2020 between Indian and Chinese troops, two people familiar with the matter said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of the month when he travels to China - his first visit in seven years - to attend the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional security bloc. The engagements follow a thaw in India and China's five-year standoff after an agreement last October on patrolling their Himalayan border, which eased the strain on bilateral ties that had hurt trade, investment and air travel. Relations were further boosted in recent weeks amid new tensions in India-U.S. ties after decades of progress, analysts said, as Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Indian exports to the United States - one of the highest levels among Washington's strategic partners. The United States and China, meanwhile, this week extended a tariff truce for another 90 days, staving off triple-digit duties on each other's goods. China and India have already agreed to resume direct flights suspended since 2020 and are discussing easing trade barriers, including reopening border trade at three Himalayan crossings. While border trade accounts for only a small portion of the $127.7 billion bilateral trade recorded in the last fiscal year, its revival is seen as a symbolic step toward normalising economic ties. "We have remained engaged with the Chinese side to facilitate the resumption of border trade through all the designated trade points," India's foreign ministry spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, told a regular press conference on Thursday. Beijing told Reuters it was also ready to resume border trade that had for a long time played an "important role in improving the lives of residents along the border and enhancing exchanges between the two peoples". A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson also said Beijing has been in close communication with New Delhi to "push for the resumption of direct flights as soon as possible". India's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the exact timing. Meanwhile, India's government think-tank has proposed easing investment rules that effectively require additional scrutiny for Chinese companies — another sign of a potential shift in economic engagement.


Reuters
33 minutes ago
- Reuters
Brazil's central bank stresses need for prolonged restrictive rates despite softer inflation
BRASILIA, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Brazil's inflation has shown more downside surprises than analysts had expected, but remains above target and is being driven by strong demand, requiring contractionary monetary policy for a "very long" period, a central bank official said on Thursday. Economic policy director Diogo Guillen said in a presentation delivered during a closed-door meeting and later published by the central bank that the labor market has provided considerable support to consumption and income, while services inflation remains above the level consistent with meeting the official 3% target.