Poor Farmer

By Wondwossen Mezlekia  (Contact at: poorfarmer@gmail.com ) December 5, 2011 The Government of Ethiopia has recently issued yet another directive that is filled with ambiguity and disregard to proper implementation of trade policies that affect everyone in the logistics supply chain. The story was first broken by Sprudge last week in the article " An End to Lot Separation In Ethiopia? " The directive is difficult to comprehend in more ways than one. First, the letter uses "bulk container" and "loose container" interchangeably and without distinction. Technically, these terms represent two distinct means of cargo shipment and the directive could have serious implications depending on which term is intended to go into effect. "Bulk container" often refers to the movement of coffee in bulk, using normal dry containers fitted with a liner, whereas shipping coffee in a "loose container" (also known as, Loose Container Loa...

By   Forexpros  via Daily Markets December 5, 2011 Forexpros – Coffee futures advanced on Monday, as adverse weather conditions in top growers Brazil and Colombia underlined concerns over declining global coffee supplies. On the ICE Futures Exchange, Arabica coffee for March delivery traded at USD2.3105 a pound during U.S. morning trade, climbing 0.62%. It earlier rose by as much as 1.15% to trade at a daily high of USD2.3275 a pound. The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, or Fedecafe, said that the country’s coffee output was likely to be flat in the 2011-12 marketing season that began on October 1, as heavy rains damaged coffee plants. According to the group, Colombia’s coffee production in the current marketing year will total 8.5 million 60-kilogram bags, the same as in the previous season. Luis Genaro Munoz, general manager of Fedcafe said, “We don’t expect to increase production. The weather this year has been worse than last...