MILAN – Coffee futures prices consolidated yesterday, with both markets closing in positive territory for the second straight day. This time, the most significant gains were posted in New York, where the main contract for July delivery pushed above the $2 mark to close at 201.45 cents per lb, up 390 points from the previous session.
Ice Robusta coffee futures rose 0.7% to settle at $3,439. Weather conditions continue to be the main factor driving up prices in both markets.
Minas Gerais, Brazil’s biggest coffee-producing state, has experienced dry weather conditions for the second consecutive week, with virtually no rainfall, according to weather reports.
Zheng Deming, chairman of the Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Association in Dak Lak Province of Vietnam, pointed out that although rainfall has begun in the central highlands, rainfall distribution is uneven, and the total amount is still insufficient to meet the needs of coffee plants during the critical fruit formation period.
Coffee trees in Vietnam are bearing baby fruits, but traders said it’s too early to have an accurate forecast on the 2024/25 output, according to sources.
Vietnam’s National Meteorological Service predicts that in the last 10 days of May, the drought situation in the coffee growing zone may ease, but the monthly rainfall will still be 40% lower than the historical average.
Meanwhile, domestic coffee prices continue to plummet. Producers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam’s leading coffee-producing region, are selling their coffee at prices ranging from VND94,000 to VND97,000, a further decline from historical peaks of over 133,000 dong reached just a week ago.
Vietnam’s coffee exports in the first four months of calendar year 2024 amounted to 737,797 metric tons, a 2.8% increase from a year earlier, government customs data reported by Reuters showed today.
April’s shipments reached 152,073 metric tons, down 19.5% from the previous month.
Coffee production in Colombia, the world’s largest supplier of washed Arabica, rose 31 per cent year-on-year in April to 742,000 60-kg bags, the National Federation of Coffee Growers said on Wednesday.
Cumulative production during the first 4 months of the year rose by 8% to 3.52 million bags.
In the last 12 months, Colombia’s coffee output increased by 7% to 11.6 million.
Colombian coffee exports in April rose by 8% to 780,000 60 kg bags.
Between January and April, the country shipped 3.76 million bags, or an 11% increase over the equivalent period of 2023. In the last 12 months, Colombia’s coffee exports rose slightly (+1%) to 10.95 million bags.
