Futures price for for Arabica coffee surged almost 5% yesterday following an update report from Tiago Ferreira, responsible for the Coffee Department for INTL FCStone, who travelled around the coffee growing regions in the South of Minas Gerais and Franca in São Paulo, Brazil.
The reports states that harvest is “very advanced” in all regions visited, with approximately 70% of the harvest already completed, although the milling of the coffee is not at the same stage, and “a lot of coffee was seen in yards and bins waiting processing.”
Ferreira observed that the field trip had revealed noticeable yields losses.
The decline is down to “bean size, the malformation of beans, or even cases where there was no bean formation”, he said, estimating losses of at least 25% on what had been received.
It was also noted that there was impact on yields, both for new crops (up to 5 years) and for older ones (over 10 years).
Early indications are of a poor crop next year too, Ferreira pointed out.
He also cautioned over the levels of rust, a fungus which causes tree defoliation and even death, besides the impact of unseasonable rains, which were encouraging premature flowering, around two months early.
FUTURES MARKETS – Bulish report makes prices soar
