By LCN Business Desk
Brazil broke two export records in October, and they point in opposite directions. One commodity earned more because the world wanted it. The other earned almost nothing extra because Brazil flooded it.
Secretaria de Comércio Exterior figures reported by Reuters on 6 November put crude oil shipments at 14.49 million tonnes and green coffee at 287,300 tonnes, both the highest Brazil has recorded.
What did the two records earn?
US$8.5 billion from oil, US$1.6 billion from coffee, and the percentages diverge sharply.
| October 2026 | Volume | Change on 2025 | Revenue | Revenue change | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crude oil | 14.49m tonnes | from 8.90m | US$8.5bn | +122.6% | +36.7% |
| Green coffee | 287,300 tonnes | +23.3% | US$1.6bn | +5.2% | -14.9% |
Secretaria de Comércio Exterior figures as reported by Reuters on 6 November 2026. The coffee tonnage equals 4.79 million bags of 60kg.
Volume rose on both lines. On oil it was met by a rising price and the revenue more than doubled. On coffee the price moved the other way, and a fifth more coffee bought five per cent more money.
Why did the coffee price fall while Brazil sold more?
Because the selling is what moved it.
Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of coffee in the world, which means its monthly shipments are not a response to the price so much as an input to it. Reuters reported traders citing pressure on futures contracts from the increase in Brazilian shipments, and a monthly record had been anticipated in the market for that reason.
Two things pushed the volume out. A harvest delayed by rains in the middle of the year left coffee to move later, and a stronger United States dollar against the real made selling abroad more attractive to Brazilian exporters. The previous monthly record, which this one displaces, was set in November 2024.
What is behind the oil number?
Pre-salt production, and buyers looking for barrels.
The 14.49 million tonnes is a record for the second consecutive month, against September's 11.7 million. Production has been sustained by the pre-salt fields, Búzios and Mero in the Santos Basin in particular, which took Brazilian output to a record for the fourth consecutive month in September on data from the Agência Nacional do Petróleo (ANP). Reuters reported importers seeking more Brazilian crude amid tensions in the Middle East.
Those shipments carried Brazil's trade balance. The country recorded a surplus of US$9.318 billion in October.
What does this mean for a Caribbean importer or producer?
Cheaper coffee for now, and a crowded market for anyone selling crude.
A regional roaster or distributor buying green coffee is buying into a price almost 15 per cent below a year ago, set by a supplier whose own volume is holding it there. The question for a purchasing decision is whether that is a delayed harvest clearing or the start of a run, and the answer sits in Brazil's next two monthly figures rather than in this one.
For Guyana the reading is the other side of the same table. Brazil put 14.49 million tonnes of crude into the market in a single month at prices up more than a third, which is the market Guyana's barrels are sold into. A producer with no refinery and a single export product is a price taker in that market twice over, once on what it sells and again on the refined fuel it buys back. What those barrels have returned so far is on the record: Guyana's oil fund has taken in US$10.5 billion since 2020, of which the royalty line is US$1.3 billion.
How does this sit with Brazil's other October numbers?
One line fell as hard as oil rose, and this newspaper reported it separately.
The same Secex table puts Brazilian beef exports at 0.20 million tonnes in October against 0.32 million a year earlier. This newspaper reported that collapse on 8 November from the meat exporters' association, which put the fall at 35.5 per cent after China's import quota ran out in mid-July. Two separate records agreeing on both direction and scale.
Iron ore, maize and raw sugar were also down on the year, while soy fell 5.7 per cent to 6.3 million tonnes as the United States sold more into China. Against that, oil alone more than doubled its earnings.
The entities
- Secretaria de Comércio Exterior (Secex) is Brazil's foreign trade secretariat, whose October 2026 figures recorded both export records. - Búzios and Mero are the Santos Basin pre-salt fields named as sustaining the production behind the crude record. - Agência Nacional do Petróleo (ANP) is Brazil's petroleum regulator, whose data showed national output at a record for the fourth consecutive month in September. - Guyana is the Caribbean crude producer selling into the same market Brazil supplied with 14.49 million tonnes in October.
What the title card says
- Headline: Brazil set export records for oil and coffee in the same month, and only one of them paid. - Crude oil exports, October 2026: 14.49 million tonnes, against 8.90 million a year earlier. - Crude oil revenue: US$8.5 billion, up 122.6 per cent, with prices up 36.7 per cent. - Green coffee exports: 287,300 tonnes, or 4.79 million bags of 60kg, up 23.3 per cent. - Green coffee revenue: US$1.6 billion, up 5.2 per cent, with the price down almost 15 per cent. - Brazil's October trade surplus: US$9.318 billion. - Brazilian beef exports in the same table: 0.20 million tonnes, against 0.32 million a year earlier. - Source: Secretaria de Comércio Exterior figures as reported by Reuters on 6 November 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much crude did Brazil export in October 2026?
14.49 million tonnes, against 8.90 million in October 2025, earning US$8.5 billion. It was a record for the second consecutive month, after September's 11.7 million tonnes.
How much coffee did Brazil export?
A record 287,300 tonnes of green coffee, equal to 4.79 million bags of 60kg, up 23.3 per cent on a year earlier. The previous record was set in November 2024.
Why did coffee revenue rise only 5.2 per cent?
Because the export price fell almost 15 per cent. Reuters reported traders citing pressure on futures contracts from the increase in Brazilian shipments.
What drove the oil record?
Pre-salt production, particularly the Búzios and Mero fields in the Santos Basin, which took Brazilian output to a record for the fourth consecutive month in September on the regulator's data, alongside importers seeking more Brazilian crude amid Middle East tensions.
What was Brazil's trade surplus in October?
US$9.318 billion, carried by the crude shipments. Against the oil and coffee records, the same Secex table put beef exports at 0.20 million tonnes against 0.32 million a year earlier, and iron ore, maize and raw sugar were also down on the year, with soy falling 5.7 per cent to 6.3 million tonnes. Oil alone more than doubled its earnings.