* May arabica coffee futures surged 12.20 cents or 4.8 percent at $2.6825 per lb.
* May surged higher after trade and fund short-covering pushed the market sharply and quickly higher - traders.
* A lack of producer hedging allowed the market to climb easily, with May trading in a wide 14-cent range - traders.
* Rally pushed the arabica premium over robusta to the highest since March 22 at more than $1.55 per lb - ICE data.
* Earlier action dominated by May/July spreading ahead of the spot contract's first notice day April 20 - traders.
* Total volume above 30,000 lots, highest since Feb 15 - preliminary Thomson Reuters data.
* Coffee exports from Guatemala fell 5.56 percent in March to 453,572 60-kg bags - Anacafe. *****
