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Brazil Arabica crop harvest advances but many cherries found on ground, experts say
SAO PAULO, June 27 (Reuters) - Brazil's 2025 Arabica coffee crop harvest is advancing in key areas though lots of cherries have fallen to the ground in some places, two experts told Reuters this week, as more positive production forecasts and lower expected demand suppress prices.
Cooxupe, the largest coffee cooperative in the world's top exporter, has harvested just over 24% of the expected crop so far but many ripe cherries in some areas had fallen to the floor, the group's technical development manager, Mario Ferraz de Araujo, said on Thursday.
"This will definitely affect the quality of this coffee," he said, citing earlier flowering plants as among the most affected.
The harvest is well advanced in some regions though some producers are waiting for later-ripening varieties to mature before getting started, Jonas Ferraresso, a coffee agronomist who advises Brazilian farmers, said on Wednesday.
The issue of fallen cherries was also prevalent in Ferraresso's findings.
"The concern is that in some regions, these fallen cherries have been on the ground for over 40 to 60 days. With recent rainfall and high soil moisture, there is a risk that the cherries may germinate before collection," he said, adding that germinated coffee cannot be sold and is worthless.
Some places in the states of Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Parana have reported light to moderate frost, Ferraresso said, adding a full assessment of the damage will take a few days.
Videos shared among coffee farmers in the south of Minas Gerais and seen by Reuters showed the leaves of some coffee plants covered in frost.
Overall, better production estimates and falling demand have pushed Arabica prices down 17% over the last three months, Carlos Mera, head of agricultural commodity markets research at Rabobank, said in a research note on Tuesday.
However, even as the 2025 harvest gains pace, the outlook for selling it is anyone's guess, he added.
"Farmers are well capitalized, and they will probably wait to see if there is any frost risk over the Southern Hemisphere winter or any dry and hot weather pattern that may affect the next flowering process before becoming keen sellers," Mera said.
