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Coffee Futures Surge to 13-Year High in N.Y. on Supply Concern

By Debarati Roy
Bloomberg

January 28, 2011

Coffee futures surged to a 13-year high on signs that supplies from Colombia, the world’s second- largest producer, may be shrinking.

Colombia’s National Federation of Coffee Growers said the harvest in Antioquia, the largest producing region, may drop below last year’s levels after excessive rainfall. Before today, futures jumped 77 percent in the past 12 months as adverse weather reduced global crops.

“There is a production deficit, and we hear that several coffee traders and brokers are demanding higher prices from companies,” said George Kopp, a senior market analyst at International Futures Group in Chicago. “Also, there is technical buying.”

Arabica coffee for March delivery advanced 6.6 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $2.4355 a pound at 9:54 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Earlier, the price reached $2.4635, the highest since June 1997.

The commodity may rise to $2.50 should the settlement top $2.42, Kopp said.

Brazilian coffee consumption, which reached a 45-year high last year, will rise 5 percent to 20.3 million bags in 2011, according to a report from Abic, an industry group.

Output in Brazil, the biggest grower and exporter, may drop as much as 21 percent in 2011 as trees produce less after record yields in 2010, Safras & Mercado, a research company, said on Jan. 21.

In London, robusta-coffee futures for March delivery climbed $38, or 1.8 percent, to $2,128 a metric ton on NYSE Liffe. Before today, the price gained 61 percent in the past year.

Arabica is grown mainly in Latin America and brewed by specialty companies including Starbucks Corp. Robusta beans, used in instant coffee, are harvested mostly in Asia and parts of Africa.
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With assistance from Lucia Kassai in Sao Paulo, Heather Walsh in Bogota and Katia Cortes in Brasilia. Editors: Patrick McKiernan, Millie Munshi.

Reporter on this story: Debarati Roy in New York at droy5@bloomberg.net
Editor responsible for this story: Patrick McKiernan at pmckiernan@bloomberg.net

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