Coffee futures drop to 1-year low on ample global supplies

Investing.com – Coffee futures were down for a fourth day on Monday, trading at the lowest level since December 2010 as inventories monitored by ICE Futures U.S. climbed for the seventh straight week, underlining concerns over ample global supplies.

On the ICE Futures Exchange, Arabica coffee for March delivery traded at USD2.1378 a pound during European afternoon trade, slumping 0.67%.

It earlier fell by as much as 1.25% to trade at USD2.1238 a pound, the lowest since December 10, 2010.

Coffee futures have declined in eight of the last nine trading sessions, losing nearly 10% since the start of December as strong competition from low-cost producers in Central America and East Asia have dominated sentiment in recent weeks.

Stockpiles of coffee monitored by futures exchange operator Intercontinental Exchange have jumped 20% since November 1 to 1.53 million bags.

Coffee prices came under further pressure after a strike scheduled to begin Monday at Brazil's biggest port in Santos was called off ahead of a labor-court hearing later in the week, easing concerns over a disruption to shipments from the South American country.

Santos is Brazil's main exit point for agricultural exports such as coffee, sugar and orange juice.

Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of Arabica coffee. Arabica is grown mainly in Latin America and brewed by specialty companies.

Despite the sharp drop in recent sessions, global financial service provider Commerzbank expects coffee prices to rebound amid concerns over crop conditions in Colombia, the world’s second largest exporter of Arabica beans.

In a report published earlier the lender said, “The ongoing harvest problems in Colombia this year should thus slow the latest sharp fall in coffee prices. In November, the coffee harvest in Colombia was down 13.7% year-on-year for the eighth time in a row."

Meanwhile, agricultural commodity traders awaited the outcome of a conference call of euro zone finance ministers later in the day about the draft text of a new fiscal plan agreed earlier this month. Talks were also to include the size of individual loans to the International Monetary Fund.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, cotton futures for March delivery jumped 1.05% to trade at USD 0.8722 a pound, while sugar futures for March delivery fell 0.6% to trade at USD0.2296 a pound.