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Coffee prices improved 21.41% this year in relation to 2004, but it was still not enough to compensate for the losses suffered with last year's Brazilian crop, according to the president of Brazil's Comissão Nacional do Café (National Coffee Commission), João Roberto Puliti.
In an interview, Monday, September 19, at the CNA (Confederação Nacional de Agricultura - National Confederation of Agriculture), Puliti requested government support for the sector. He claims that "a portion of the producers are facing problems extending their loan repayment periods, and they need to have stable sources of funds" (more credit), since "they operate with a crop that requires heavy investments in relation to profits and is not easily kept in storage." Puliti said that the growers are waiting for the National Monetary Council to announce measures on behalf of the sector, "not just in terms of the availability of credit but the prolongment of producers' debt repayment periods as well." On October 5 the coffee growers have a meeting scheduled with the Ministry of Agriculture to discuss measures of support. Puliti stressed that the producers do not desire any significant expansion in the area under cultivation, but, beginning this year, there should be an improvement in the quality of the coffee that is produced. "They are afraid that excess production will lead to lower prices, which would be inopportune at a moment when the sector is starting to recover," he reiterated. In August, 2004, Brazilian growers received US$ 86.87 (198.98 reais) per 60-kilogram sack of coffee. In August of this year, the average price was US$ 110.80 (253.78 reais). World coffee production runs around 120 million sacks, annually. The international market currently has 20 million sacks in stockpiles. According to information from the CNA, Brazil hopes to produce 50 million sacks next year. Agência Brasil
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