Coffee Stockpiles to Hold Near 11-Year Lows Amid Colombian Rain

By Heather Walsh

Bloomberg

November 04, 2011

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Coffee stockpiles may remain near 11- year lows into next year as Colombia’s Arabica harvest fails to meet forecasts, contributing to a “scarcity” of the bean favored by brewers including Starbucks Corp.

Colombia’s year-end coffee crop is falling below “expected volumes” amid “strong” global demand for coffee, said Jorge Vasquez, chairman of Colombia’s National Association of Coffee Exporters, in an interview yesterday in Cartagena, Colombia.

“There is a scarcity of coffee worldwide,” he said. In Colombia “you haven’t seen the expected volumes.”

Colombia, the second-largest grower of Arabica coffee beans after Brazil, will produce its smallest crop in two years in 2011 after above-average rainfall damaged plants, according to Vasquez. The harvest will likely slide to as low as 8.5 million bags this year, from last year’s 8.9 million bags, he said.

Arabica-coffee futures for December delivery fell 7 cents to $2.2615 a pound as of 8:17 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York.

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Editors: Dale Crofts, Robin Saponar