In the European Union's (EU) coffee market, a closer look at the data reveals intriguing trends and factors shaping the industry: At the end of June, coffee stocks in the EU stood at 11.56M bags, showing a significant 12.6% deviation below the average. Surprisingly, there was a month-over-month stock increase of 3.7%, which was slightly higher than the expected seasonal change of 2.1%.
In June, the EU imported 3.74M bags of green coffee, marking a -9% year-over-year difference. Import figures also decreased by 8% compared to the previous month, slightly exceeding the expected seasonal decline of -2%. Despite these fluctuations, the EU remains the world's primary coffee importer.
For the 2022-2023 coffee cycle, cumulative imports until June totaled 34.9M bags, reflecting a year-over-year decrease of -4.1%. However, these figures fall short of the estimated 36.5M bags, resulting in a -4.5% deviation. This variance can be attributed to a demand pace slightly exceeding expectations, leading to a -15% change in stocks, despite a -4% change in imports.