Coffee Prices Fall After Soaring to 45-Year High
(Coffee prices settled lower on Friday after reaching their highest level in nearly half a century during the session, driven by concerns over tight supplies and next year’s crop in top grower Brazil struggling to recover from this year’s drought. Arabica coffee futures on the ICE exchange fell 1.5% to settle at $3.1805 per lb, following a high of $3.3545 per lb earlier in the day. This comes after prices for Arabica coffee have risen by about 71% this year, making it one of the strongest performing commodities alongside cocoa.
The price trend is similar to that of cocoa, which is driven by poor harvests in the most important producer countries, Ivory Coast and Ghana. Arabica coffee is also facing concerns over a poor crop in Brazil next year due to drought. The Commerzbank noted that the price trend is now very similar to that of cocoa at the beginning of the year, with commodities such as coffee and cocoa being driven by supply concerns rather than demand.
In other markets, the price of robusta coffee rose to its highest in about 47 years, while New York cocoa futures settled 3.9% higher at $9,425 a ton. Cocoa prices soared to a record high of $11,722 a ton in April, driven by poor crops in top producers Ivory Coast and Ghana. Sugar prices, on the other hand, fell, with March raw sugar ending the session down 2.8% at 21.08 cents per lb and March white sugar losing 1.5% to $547.70 a ton.