MILAN – Coffee futures edged higher yesterday on short covering in both markets. In New York, the Ice Arabica’s contract for December delivery rose about 1 percent to close at 248.20 cents. In London, the most traded contract for January delivery gained $24, to settle at $4,684. The rains expected in Brazil this week, across the coffee belt, will be conducive for flowering.
But they will not be able to reverse the damage caused in the past months by the worst drought in forty years.
In Colombia, the National Federation of Producers reports that production in September was 1.071 million bags, an increase of 26.15% compared to the same month a year ago. This brings the total production for the entire 2023/24 coffee year to 12.749 million bags, or 20.18% more than in 2022/23.
Exports were similarly up last month by 19.3% to 987,000 bags in September.
Exports for the whole of 2023/24 amounted to 11.806 million, 10.1% more than the previous year. In 2024/25, Colombian production is expected to increase by a further 4% to 13 million bags.
Vietnam exported 1.1 million metric tons, or 18.33 million bags of coffee in the first nine months of this calendar year, down 11.5% from the same period last year.
Despite the drop in volume, export earnings reached a record level of $4.3 billion, according to the General Statistics Office. September exports amounted to 52,000 tons, or a 3% increase over the same month of 2023.
Gold and coffee helped propel trend-following hedge funds into positive territory in September, thanks to record commodity prices, rising equities and falling interest rates, shows a Société Générale note quoted by Reuters.
Gold has surged almost 30% this year to a record high on Sept. 26. Robusta coffee futures reached a contract high of $5,527 on 26th September.
