Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumDeforestation, Then Drought, Then Frost: NE Brazilian Growers Lose 1.3 Billion Pounds Of Coffee
No country on Earth puts more breakfasts on kitchen tables than Brazil. The farms that dot the vast plains and highlands that rise above the Atlantic coast produce four-fifths of the worlds orange juice exports, half of its sugar exports, a third of coffee exports and a third of the soy and corn used to feed egg-laying hens and other livestock. So when the regions crops were scorched and then frozen this year by a devastating one-two punch fueled by climate change the worst drought in a century followed by an unprecedented Antarctic front that repeatedly coated the land in thick frost global commodity markets shook. The cost of Arabica beans soared 30% over a six-day stretch in late July; orange juice jumped 20% in three weeks; and sugar hit a four-year high in August.
The price spikes are contributing to a surge in international food inflationa U.N. index has jumped 33% over the past 12 monthsthats deepening financial hardship in the pandemic and forcing millions of lower-income families to scale back grocery purchases across the globe. Whats more, the episode is sending an ominous warning of whats to come as scientists anticipate rising global temperatures and declining soil humidity will increasingly wreak havoc on farm lands in Braziland much of the rest of the world.
Its a vicious cycle, says Marcelo Seluchi, a meteorologist at Brazils Natural Disaster Monitoring and Alert Center. There is no rain because there is no humidity, and there is no humidity because there is no rain. Deforestation of the Amazon, which ranchers clear cut to raise cattle and plant crops, is playing a big role, he says. By his calculation, Brazil hasnt had a normal rainy season since 2010. Its been a very peculiar year, he says. Floods in Germany and China, and theres a very serious drought problem in Brazil.
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The destruction wrought in Brazil provides a glimpse of that future. Between the drought and the frost, crops on some 1.5 million square kilometers of land have been damaged an area the size of Peru. The coffee losses are the most stunning: as much as 1.3 billion pounds of beans destroyed, enough to brew every single cup that Americans drink over a four-month period. This has triggered a frantic rush among the worlds biggest coffee retailers companies like Starbucks Corp. and Nestle SA to secure supplies. These guys are scrambling pretty hard, says Jack Scoville, a trader at commodities broker Price Futures Group in Chicago. Starbucks said in a statement that it always buys months in advance, and Mark Schneider, Nestles CEO, told investors on a July conference call that the company protected its finances by purchasing hedging contracts that stretch into early next year.
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https://fortune.com/2021/09/28/fire-frost-and-drought-are-ravaging-the-country-that-makes-breakfast-for-the-world/
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)sales than I am of losing coffee. They will find a way.