SAO PAULO, April 25 (Reuters) - Cooxupé, the world's largest arabica coffee cooperative, expects to sell 7 percent more coffee this year, reaching 6.2 million 60-kg bags, in spite of a smaller-than-expected crop.
Rising sales would stem from higher shipments from domestic growers struggling with a recent Federal Supreme Court ruling that upheld a levy on proceeds from sale of coffee and other grains, Cooxupé President Carlos Paulino da Costa said at an event on Tuesday.
Cooxupé always deducted the 2.3 percent levy when purchasing coffee from cooperative growers, giving it some competitive advantage over rivals now that the tax has been upheld, Costa said. Cooxupé is projecting a 17 percent decline in production where members of the cooperative operate.
"We believe that we will receive more from the members of our cooperative because of the Funrural levy," he said.
An executive at Cooxupé had previously estimated sales for this year could fall to as low as 5.6 million bags. Last year, Cooxupé sold a total 5.8 million bags of coffee domestically and abroad. (Reporting by Roberto Samora; Writing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)