Coorg News – Consolidated News & Views

Coffee prices across Asia fell in the week to Tuesday, tracking sharp losses in international coffee futures.

On Monday, the May robusta contract on the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange finished at $1,117 a metric ton, down $40, or 3.5%. It was $82 lower than a week earlier.

In Vietnam, trading activities picked up pace as sellers rushed to unload their stocks on fears of a further decline in prices, traders said.

“Exporters were under pressure (to sell) after the London market dropped so much,” said a Ho Chi Minh City-based trader.

Offers for robusta grade 2, 5% black and broken, were quoted around $1,080-$1,090/ton, FOB, Ho Chi Minh City, compared with $1,140-$1,160/ton last week.

Trade in Indonesia and India, however, turned quiet amid a disparity in price expectations between buyers and sellers.

“They (farmers) were still asking for higher prices,” said one Lampung-based trader.

“You’d have to be really short to take up their offers,” he added.

Arrivals of fresh robusta beans are gradually increasing but “still too small to have much effect on prices,” the Indonesian trader said.

Harvesting activities are underway, but transporting and drying are hampered by intermittent rains, he said.

Offers for robusta EK1 grade 4 80 defects were quoted around $1,100/ton, FOB, Lampung, compared with $1,200/ton a week earlier.

Offers for Mandheling grade 3 arabica coffee were quoted around $2,800/ton, FOB, Medan, compared with around $2,900/ton last week, FOB, Medan.

“Usually after such a sharp downward movement, market players prefer to sideline, waiting for prices to stabilize before resuming activities,” said one Bangalore-based trader, citing the market situation in India.

“It’s a holiday here tomorrow, so there isn’t much interest to trade,” he added.

Markets in India will close Wednesday for a public holiday. Trade resumes Thursday.Indian robusta cherry AB, was offered around $1,300/ton, FOB, Cochin, down from $1,330-$1,340/ton last week, while arabica plantation A was offered at $2,340/ton, compared with $2,400/ton last week.

Source : Comtex Finance Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge

Rain forecast for brazil.May boost up production in brazil. It may not be a good option to hoard beans for long,hoping for a further price increase.

BY DANIELLE ROSSINGH

Robusta coffee fell in London on speculation rain may boost the harvest in Brazil, the world’s biggest producer and exporter, easing concerns about a global shortage.

Coffee prices in London jumped 56 percent last year partly on speculation that drought has damaged the crop in Vietnam, the world’s No. 2 producer. Robusta beans are used in instant coffee by companies including Nestle and Kraft Foods.

”A new cold front will bring more beneficial rain to the coffee belt in Brazil, especially the parched areas of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo,” Sucden (U.K.) Ltd., a London commodities broker, said in a report Monday, citing a forecast from weather forecaster Somar.

Robusta for delivery in May, the most active contract, fell as much as $17, or 1.5 percent, to $1,140 a metric ton on London’s Liffe exchange Monday. The contract traded at $1,142 as of 12:58 p.m. local time.

Arabica for delivery in May dropped 1.1 percent to $1.0760 a pound on March 10 on the New York Board of Trade.

Among other soft commodities trading in London, white sugar slid 50 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $447.50 a ton. Cocoa for March delivery fell 9 pounds, or 1 percent, to 871 pounds ($1,504) a ton on the Liffe exchange.

”Investors are taking profit, as we’ve seen some big moves in cocoa recently,” Christoph Eibl, head of commodities trading at Zug, Switzerland-based Tiberius Asset Management AG, said in an interview.

Investors had been buying cocoa on speculation that rebels in Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, ”will be hitting the supply side, while demand from Asia is growing,” he added.

Source:Bloomberg News