Brazil sells off 65,000 bags of government stocks

Brazil’s national coffee agency, Conab, has moved to ease supply pressures on local roasters by offering up almost 70,000 60-kilogram bags of stockpiled green Arabica beans for sale. Roughly 65,000 of those bags were snapped up in the auction, with Brazilian roasters feeling the pinch after drought hit the country’s latest Robusta crop. The coffee sold at the most recent auction was at least seven years old. Conab holds a stockpile of nearly 1.2 million bags of green beans around the country to help it to manage supply issues as they arise. With Robusta commanding record high prices due to a global shortage, roasters are using more low grade Arabicas in their blends instead.