MILAN – Coffee futures prices closed lower in the first session of the year tracking moves in the Brazilian real. March Arabica coffee settled 260 points down at 127.10 cents per pound. Robusta futures for March delivery in London fell $2 to $1,380 in a quiet session with intraday high and low of $1,389 and 1,368 respectively.
The coffee futures market in New York is partially retracting after a rally in November and the first half of December, that pushed prices on the March to a peak of $1.4245 on Dec. 17. The run-up was fuelled by fund short-covering against a backdrop of falling stocks.
According to data from Brazil’s Ministry of Trade, the country coffee exports dropped -22.9% on year in December to 3.162 mln bags.
According to sources, coffee regions in Brazil received good volumes of rainfall in December, soil moisture is satisfactory and heavier rainfall is forecasted to reach the coffee belt.
In other news, the National Coffee Institute of Honduras reported that coffee exports for the month of December were 4.1% lower on year, at a total of 339,608 bags. Cumulative coffee exports for the first three months of the present October 2019 to September 2020 coffee year were 8.3% lower than the same period in the previous coffee year, at a total of 521,411 bags.
