São Paulo — Qahwa World
Brazilian trading company Timbro has officially added coffee to its export portfolio, identifying strong potential for growth in a market reshaped by volatility and record-high prices over the past year.
Timbro, already one of Brazil’s key sugar exporters, also trades a wide range of products including iron ore, cotton, aircraft, cars, and heavy machinery, and manages import operations for Amazon.
“I believe we entered the coffee market at the right time — a very complicated moment for the sector,” said Caio Melles, partner at Timbro, in an interview with Reuters.
The company, which reported 18 billion reais ($3.3 billion) in revenue last year, sees an opportunity to fill the gap left by traditional traders struggling with market volatility. According to Melles, the coffee sector currently lacks players capable of tracking production, pricing, and ensuring delivery, opening new room for agile companies like Timbro.
Although Timbro has long engaged in financial operations with cooperatives and large producers, the 2025 crop year marks its first full physical coffee operation, a move the company had not previously disclosed.
Initially, coffee volumes will remain modest — around 80,000 bags of 60 kg each — as Timbro adopts a cautious entry strategy.
Expansion Beyond Coffee
Founded in 2010 by Jorge Guinle and Bruno Russo, Timbro began as an import-focused firm before rapidly diversifying its portfolio. The company has recorded significant success in sugar, increasing traded volumes from 300,000 tonnes in 2018 to 2 million tonnes in 2024.
In 2025, Timbro expanded its international presence with the opening of an office in Dubai, a strategic hub to strengthen relationships with global clients and enhance efficiency across time zones. It is also extending operations in Asia to “operate on Chinese time,” reflecting China’s importance as a key importer of Brazilian commodities.
Currently, 65–70% of Timbro’s business is export-oriented, while 30–35% focuses on imports.
Diversification into Grains and Minerals
Timbro maintains a smaller footprint in soybean and corn exports, Brazil’s leading agricultural commodities. “We’re doing a few soybean and corn shipments, maybe half a dozen of each this year — still very limited,” Melles said, noting that grain operations require integrated logistics to achieve profitability. The company is now considering logistics partnerships to expand in this segment.
In the steel and minerals division, Timbro expects to export over 1 million tonnes to China and Europe this year and has begun due diligence for new mining assets as part of its expansion strategy.
Exchange rate: $1 = 5.4519 reais
