Droughts in Brazil threatens a global coffee shortage

Droughts in 2015 are threatening to cause a decline in the production of coffee beans, which could be bad news for those of us who rely on a strong cup of espresso coffee to get us going in the morning!

The recent droughts in Brazil are expected to cause the harvests of both Robusta and Arabica coffee beans to drop by almost 10% during 2016. Plus, making this decrease worse is the fact that global demand for coffee beans is expected to increase again this year.

Experts have been worried for a while now that a shortage may occur, as Brazil has repeatedly suffered less than ideal growing conditions for coffee berries. The Foreign Agricultural Service report suggests that global coffee production of beans will become increasingly precious, with Brazil’s Robusta harvest predicted to decline 3.7 million bags to 13.3 million and Arabica to fall by1.2 million bags to 36.1 million.

While some will think about stock-piling, this shortage may not be immediately imminent because luckily Honduras, Indonesia and Vietnam are producing more coffee than usual. This may stave off a shortage for now, and as the European Union, which accounts for nearly half of the world’s bean imports, is forecast to increase 400,000 bags to a record 45.5 million. The second largest importer in the world is the United States, which is predicted to increase by 500,000 bags to 24 million, due to higher consumption.

In 2015, Brazil produced the most coffee beans with 30% of the total, Colombia was second with 21% market share and Vietnam came in third with 13%.