U.S. buyers took 625,192 bags of Brazilian coffee in September, an 86.4% jump from a year earlier, after tariff barriers eased. Governments set the rules for access. Brazil’s exporters and producers adjusted to policy shifts: overall shipments rose, but export revenue fell. That’s the trade arithmetic behind the United States’ return as Brazil’s leading coffee customer.
Cecafé president Márcio Ferreira said easing tariff uncertainty helped restore business. “In November 2025, the US removed the tariff on most of the Brazilian product, but until July this year soluble coffee was still taxed,” he said in the council’s statement. Ferreira said Cecafé worked with the US National Coffee Association and the Brazilian government to confirm that green coffee remained exempt in new U.S. investigations and to add soluble coffee to exception lists. The statement didn’t give details of those investigations.
Who Sets the Terms
Brazil shipped 3.894 million 60-kilogram bags in September, up 3.1% from 3.778 million a year earlier. Export revenue, however, fell 7.1% to US$1.282 billion. The report calculated average revenue at roughly US$329 per bag, compared with about US$365 a year earlier. More coffee moved; less money came back per bag.
From January through September, the United States bought 3.805 million bags, or 13.1% of Brazil’s exports. That put it ahead of Germany, which bought 3.307 million bags. Yet U.S. purchases remained 12.8% below the same period in 2025. Italy took 2.597 million bags, Belgium 2.463 million and Japan 1.451 million.
The U.S. also led purchases of what Cecafé calls differentiated coffees, including specialty, certified and higher-quality lots. It bought 813,829 bags, or 16.4% of that segment. Cecafé, founded in 1999, says its more than 100 members—including exporters, producers and cooperatives—represent 96% of participants in Brazil’s coffee export market. The council’s figures describe an industry organized around exporters and large buyers; they don’t break out September’s U.S.-bound shipments by green versus soluble coffee or publish U.S.-bound revenue separately.
More Bags, Less Revenue
For January through September, Brazil exported 29.095 million bags, down 0.2%, while revenue fell 8.6%, from US$11.065 billion to US$10.113 billion. Ferreira cited lower international prices, rain damage that reduced the quality of early arabica lots, and a larger share of cheaper canephora beans. Canephora, which includes conilon and robusta, rose 68.3% to 5.162 million bags. Arabica made up 71.3% of shipments, at 20.739 million bags, but fell 10.7%.
The 2026/27 crop year began sending out new coffee. Exports from July through September reached 11.210 million bags, up 15.5%, while revenue rose 0.8% to US$3.561 billion. Ferreira said rain delayed the harvest, mainly in July, and new beans began appearing for export in August. The next harvest depends on weather during the flowering season.
The Forecast Isn’t the Result
Cecafé forecast that Brazil’s total exports would keep rising and exceed the previous year’s total by the end of 2026. That’s a forecast, not a reported result, and it doesn’t promise U.S. purchases will recover the 12.8% gap with 2025. The report also said lower revenue per bag could ease cost pressure for buyers, while U.S. retail prices depend on roasters, retailers and futures markets.
From January through September, the port of Santos handled 20.573 million bags, or 70.7% of Brazil’s shipments. The Rio de Janeiro port complex handled 7.335 million, or 25.2%. Export channels concentrate the route from producer to buyer, while tariff decisions and market prices shape what shipments earn. For now, U.S. orders have returned; what that means for the next stretch of trade remains uncertain.