Prices for arabica beans, the type favored by Starbucks Corp., reached the highest in more than than 16 months in New York as crop risks across Asia and Latin America raise concern that global supplies will get tighter just as global consumption is set to reach an-all time high.
A trucker strike has hindered coffee shipments in Colombia the past month, increasing the risk that beans will be damaged in the world’s second-largest producer, growers said. Adverse weather last month hurt arabica crops at top producer Brazil, where the robusta harvest in the main growing region will slide to the smallest in 12 years, a producers’ group estimates. Smaller harvests are also expected in top robusta supplier Vietnam, as well as Indonesia and India.
