Coffee exporters accumulate R$ 51.5 million in losses due to port delays

More than 5,500 containers were unable to be shipped due to port logistics issues (Vanessa Rodrigues/AT)

A total of 1.826 million bags of coffee (5,534 containers) remained stored at Brazil’s main ports without shipment in 2024, according to a survey conducted by the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council (Cecafé) in collaboration with its member companies.

“Delays and constant changes in vessel schedules for exports, along with frequent cargo rollovers, were the main reasons for these non-shipments”, explains Cecafé’s technical director, Eduardo Heron.

He states that these logistical bottlenecks at Brazilian ports caused a “port-related loss” of R\$ 9.208 million for coffee exporters in December, due to extra costs associated with additional storage, detentions (extra time), pre-stacking (early container stacking), and early gate-in (moving containers before the scheduled time).

From June — when Cecafé began tracking these costs — through December 2024, exporters accumulated total losses of R\$ 51.540 million.

Considering an average Free on Board (FOB) export price of US\$ 304.25 per bag (green coffee) and an average exchange rate of R\$ 6.0964 per US dollar in December, the failure to ship this coffee resulted in Brazil missing out on US\$ 555.62 million, or R\$ 3.387 billion, in foreign exchange revenue last year.

According to Heron, logistical bottlenecks also harm Brazilian coffee producers, most of whom are small-scale family farmers. “Brazil is the country that transfers the highest FOB export price to its coffee growers, and the inability to ship the product due to port infrastructure limitations reduces the capital passed on to them”, he explains.

On the operational side, Heron states that coffee exporters continue to face significant logistical bottlenecks and must make great efforts to consolidate cargo due to the increasing volume of containerized shipments and the lack of adequate infrastructure for containerized cargo at Brazilian ports.

“The logistical challenges and the losses our exporters are accumulating highlight the exhaustion of port infrastructure and the urgent need for investments to expand yard and berth capacity, improve road, rail, and waterway conditions, and deepen the draft to accommodate larger vessels”, he analyzes.

He also notes that Cecafé, alongside other foreign trade organizations, has been leading discussions with public authorities to seek solutions that mitigate risks, minimize losses for exporters, and enable a swift improvement in port infrastructure.

Delays are constant at the port (Alexsander Ferraz/AT)

In December, 71% of ships faced schedule changes According to the Detention Zero (DTZ) Bulletin, prepared by the startup ElloX Digital, 71% of container ships — 206 out of a total of 290 — experienced delays or schedule changes that impacted coffee exports at Brazil’s main ports in December last year.

The longest waiting time recorded in the previous month was 56 days at the largest port in the Southern Hemisphere, Santos. Additionally, 40 vessels were not even granted gate access at the Santos terminal.

DTZ Bulletin data shows that the Port of Santos, which accounted for 68% of coffee shipments in 2024, registered an 84% rate of ship delays or schedule changes in December, affecting 132 out of 157 vessels.

Also in the previous month, only 9% of loading operations had a gate-open period longer than four days at the Santos terminal. Another 36% had between three and four days, while 54% had less than two days.

The Rio de Janeiro port complex, Brazil’s second-largest coffee export hub, with a 27.9% share of shipments in 2024, experienced a 56% delay rate in December, with the longest waiting period reaching 35 days.