Brazil Coffee Output May Be Cut as Dryness Hurts Beans

Coffee output in Brazil, the world’s biggest producer, may fall more than previously forecast this year as a dry spell in the main growing regions hurt bean development, a weather forecaster said.

Below-average rainfall and warm weather in parts of Minas Gerais state and southern Espirito Santo state may cause "a big impact" in productivity, said Marco Antonio dos Santos, a weather forecaster at Sao Paulo-based Somar Meteorologia. The dry spell is hitting crops at a time when developing beans need water "the most," he said today in a report sent by e-mail.