Colombia coffee exports soar 53 pct in March-fed

BOGOTA, April 13, 2011 - Colombia's coffee exports shot up 53 percent to 884,000 60-kg bags in March versus the same month last year, a trade group said on Wednesday, as growers took advantage of record high prices.

The coffee futures market has doubled in value in a sustained rally that began in June 2010, with much of the latest push driven by a scramble for high-quality beans. Coffee prices hit a 34-year high last month.

Colombia, the world's top producer of high-quality washed Arabica, saw a 24 percent rise in production in March to 779,000 sacks versus the same month last year, the National Federation of Coffee Growers said.

"The positive results in the growth of the crop so far and the strong commitment to eradicate once and for all roya (fungus) in the country shows that we're achieving our goals,"

Luis Genaro Munoz, the federation's head, said in a statement. The roya fungus attacks coffee leaves and impedes photosynthesis. Agriculture Minister Juan Camilo Restrepo has said the fungus infecting Colombia's coffee trees had worsened, and now covered one-half of the country's farms.

The federation expects coffee output this year to reach about 9 million to 10 million bags, the highest level since 2008, as better weather helps flowering.

So far this year, Colombian bean exports have risen 40 percent to 2.38 million bags versus the same period in 2010, while production has grown 37 percent to 2.45 million sacks, the federation said.

Tight supplies in Colombia, the world's top producer of high-quality washed Arabica beans, and in Brazil, another top producer, were the main impetus for a spike in Arabica prices last year that has continued into 2011.

Bad weather, a tree renovation program and pests in the previous two years cut output in Colombia by about one-third its norm. While this year's crop is forecast to rebound, it will still be below historical averages of 11 million sacks.

Source: reuters

Outlook : Cocoa firms on I. Coast concerns

NEW YORK/LONDON, April 13, 2011 - Cocoa futures climbed on Wednesday due to worries about possible disruptions to the mid-crop harvest in Ivory Coast even as cocoa exports were set to resume from the world's top grower after months of political turmoil.

Cocoa futures have slid around 25 percent since peaking at a 32-year high in March as Ivory Coast has looked closer to resuming exports after the civil war there was resolved with the arrest of leader Laurent Gbagbo.

"Now that everything is settling down in the Ivory Coast, there may be more of a normality in the market," said Nick Gentile, head of trading at commodities fund Atlantic CapitalAdvisors.

New York's July cocoa contract on ICE Futures U.S.  gained $14 to end at $3,070 per tonne. London's July cocoa  rose 9 pounds to close at 1,946 pounds per tonne.
 

The market's focus shifted to the first-quarter European  cocoa grind data and U.S. cocoa grind data. Both key indicators  of demand are due out on Thursday.
 

"We'd expect it to be a little bit up due to the fact  there's been no grinding in Ivory Coast. If it's not up, it's  bearish," the dealer said, estimating grindings would increase  by 2 percent or 3 percent.
 

A second dealer said, "We expect ECA grindings to be  slightly better due to replacement from Ivory Coast."
 

International trade house and cocoa processor Archer  Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) , whose operations in Ivory Coast have been suspended since the first week of March, said  in an emailed statement: "We're currently leveraging our cocoa  processing operations in Ghana, Singapore, Brazil, the United  States and Europe to meet our customers' needs."
 

Ivory Coast's major port of Abidjan remained shut on  Wednesday as staffing and logistical issues meant operations  could not resume, shipping sources said. 

"The trade has bought so much cocoa from Ghana, from Togo,  to hedge against Ivory Coast, now they've got their hedges and  they've got their cocoa from Ivory Coast too. Now they have too  much of everything so they are moving out of their positions,"  a long-time U.S. based analyst said.
 

U.S. cocoa futures were also bolstered by technical  strength after rising above the 200-day moving average and  after the 20-day and 100-day moving averages crossed above the  market late last week.

Source : reuters

NY coffee and cocoa market close review for today, April 13, 2011

COFFEE
* July arabica coffee futures jumped 6.80 cents or 2.5 percent  to finish at $2.8370 per lb.
 

* May/July spreading dominated the session's heavy volume ahead of the spot contract's first notice day April 20.
 

* Total volume around 40,569 lots, the highest since November 2010 -  preliminary Thomson Reuters data.
 

* "Most of it is spread related. Ten percent of the volume is outright  volume. A lot of people are watching more than doing anything." - Rodrigo  Costa, vice-president of Institutional Sales for Newedge USA.
 

* Colombia's coffee exports shot up 53 percent to 884,000 60-kg bags in  March versus the same month last year - Colombian Federation of Coffee  Growers. 

COCOA
* Key July cocoa futures rose $14 to close at $3,070 a tonne.
 

* May/July position contributed to a significant portion of the day's  strong volume ahead of first notice day for May on Friday - traders.
 

* Technical strength and short-covering lifted the market, after rising  above the 200-day moving average and after the 20-day and 100-day moving  averages crossed above the market late last week.

 

* Market remained firm as a lot of work was still required to bring  life in top grower Ivory Coast back to normal - traders.
 

* Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara pledged to quickly restore  security and prosperity to a nation broken by civil war as life in the main  city slowly returned to a normality of sorts.
 

* Ivory Coast's two main ports will reopen this week with ships likely  to arrive by next week, paving the way for a resumption of cocoa exports  from the world's top grower - spokesman for President Alassane Ouattara.

* European cocoa and North American cocoa grind data for the first  quarter will be released Thursday.
  Source : reuters

Cocoa groups hope for quick restart Ivorian trade

Cocoa industry groups on Tuesday welcomed a call for peace by top grower Ivory Coast's internationally recognised president, Alassane Ouattara, and said they hoped for a swift resumption of trade.

"We also welcome the EU decision to lift the EU sanctions on the ports of Abidjan, San Pedro, and the CGFCC (Coffee and Cocoa Trade Management Committee)," said a joint statement from the European Cocoa Association and the Federation of Cocoa Commerce.

"We are hopeful that the end of the political crisis will very soon enable us and our members to play a part in the resumption of cocoa trade and the recovery of the Ivorian economy."

It added, "A prompt resumption of cocoa activities will bring a much needed focus in the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people engaged in the Ivorian cocoa trade."

Ouattara called for peace after his rival Laurent Gbagbo was arrested with the help of French forces, but he faces a huge task reuniting a country shattered by civil war.

Ouattara, who won a November presidential election according to U.N.-certified results, can begin asserting his authority over the West African country after Gbagbo was captured on Monday, ending more than four months of A stand-off that descended into all-out conflict. 

Source : reuters

Tanzanian coffee prices fall on poor quality

Tanzania's coffee prices fell at last week's auction due to poor quality produce as farmers in the east African nation sell their last remaining harvests of the season, traders said on Tuesday.

A few bags of top-grade coffee continued to fetch record high prices, but most of the coffee on offer was of low quality.

"The main reason for the decline of prices is that the coffee on auction was generally of low quality. The average lot size was just 16 bags, while the normal standard is 100 bags per lot," said a trader at a coffee exporting company in Tanzania.