SAO PAULO, March 21 (Reuters) - The president of Cooxupe, the world's largest coffee cooperative and Brazil's top exporter, was upbeat on Thursday regarding arabica coffee harvests, saying its members should in 2024 produce a similar or slightly larger crop than last year's.
"We've been saying we see a similar harvest or slightly bigger," Cooxupe President Carlos Augusto Rodrigues de Melo told journalists at an event. He did not provide specific forecasts.
The cooperative operates in Brazil's main arabica coffee regions such as in the south of Minas Gerais state and parts of Sao Paulo state.
Brazil's arabica coffee harvest should begin within about a month in the areas Cooxupe operates, Melo said, and pick up in May notably in southern Minas Gerais, a key region.
Of the 6.8 million bags Cooxupe expects to sell this year, the group said it should export some 5.5 million bags. (Reporting by Roberto Samora; writing by Andre Romani Editing by Marguerita Choy)
