Coffee Futures Rise to One-Week High on Reduced Supplies; Cocoa Advances

Arabica-coffee futures rose to the highest price in a week on reduced supplies. Cocoa also jumped.

Coffee exports from producing countries will fall for a second year in 2010 amid “scarcity,” according to the International Coffee Organization. Shipments will be below last year’s estimated 95.5 million bags and 97.7 million in 2008, ICO Executive Director Nestor Osorio said yesterday in an interview, without specifying the amount or percentage drop. A bag of coffee weighs 60 kilograms (132 pounds).

Supplies of the mild, washed arabica beans traded on ICE Futures U.S. “remain tight so the market should remain at a higher trading range,” said Jack Scoville, a vice president at Price Group Inc., a broker in Chicago.

Arabica coffee for September delivery rose 1.75 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $1.6385 a pound on ICE in New York. Earlier, the commodity touched $1.672, the highest level for a most-active contract since July 2. The price fell 0.3 percent this week.

Through yesterday, stockpiles monitored by ICE Futures tumbled 30 percent this year to the lowest level since August 2002. Futures have climbed 42 percent in the past year.

Robusta-coffee futures for September delivery gained $13, or 0.8 percent, to $1,709 a metric ton on the Liffe exchange in London.

Cocoa futures for September delivery gained $27, or 0.9 percent, to $2,996 a metric ton on ICE. The most-active contract gained 0.8 percent for the week and 13 percent in the 12 months.

On London’s Liffe, cocoa futures for September delivery rose 5 pounds, or 0.2 percent, to 2,385 pounds ($3,591) a ton.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Campbell in Chicago at ecampbell14@bloomberg.net

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